Maybe, Maybe Not
by Hepsa
Summary: Sort of an offshootprequel to Jelly Is Good. Set during their sixthyear. Features OCs, so it is probably wise to find out who they are from JIG, but you can probably pick it up.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** What part of 'Don't own' do you not understand? I don't even own Suzie, Caroline and Sarah, they belong to Larka. As does, to some extent, the plot, however little of it there is at the moment.

Here is another Jelly Is Good! offshoot from me, Hepsa (and not a one-shot, either). You're probably wondering why I spend my time writing offshoots of my friend's fic, and it is for three reasons:

1. Boredom

2. I actually enjoy it

3. For procrastination. See, I should be doing homework now, but I'm not.

I know the fact it's not only about an OC, but about an OC and _Peter Pettigrew_ is off putting, but please read it! Remember, Peter was once just a normal guy like the others before he went evil!

And this chapter is mainly about the OCs, so don't be put off by that either!

* * *

Suzie Gibson was sitting by the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room. She loved watching the flames dancing; the flickers of reds and oranges entranced her. She knew she was meant to be doing her Charms homework, but she had a mental block at the moment and what with her friends - Caroline Hawling and Sarah Davies - arguing she wouldn't have been able to concentrate anyway. 

'Caroline –'

'Sarah, listen to me; my point is that –'

'Let me finish! Don't interrupt!'

'You interrupted me!'

'Only because you interrupted me!'

'Both of you shut up! I'm trying to work!' snapped Lily Evans, another friend of Suzie's. Caroline and Sarah sat down, seething. When Lily wasn't looking, Caroline, to Suzie's amusement, stuck her tongue out, and Sarah responded with a nose thumb. Caroline responded to that with a _double _nose thumb, at which point Lily looked up and Caroline's hands were instantly by her quill and parchment. Suzie couldn't help letting out a giggle at their antics.

'Suzie!' cried Lily. Her eyes narrowed, and she stood up, and continued, 'I'm going to the dorms; I can't concentrate with all this noise.'

She packed her bag quickly, slung it over her shoulder, and left. Lily had been extra-snappy since her birthday, when James Potter had thrown an impromptu party for her in celebration, and showered her with gifts. This would all sound well and good to anyone who didn't know them, but Lily hated rule-breaking in any form, so the party was a bad idea, and when James had showered her with gifts? It had been literally, during breakfast the morning after the party. SureFine, he had put a Cushioning Charm on her, but that didn't remove the embarrassment of finding necklaces in your cereal, and said cereal in your hair from the splash when they landed there.

'I wish we could cheer Lily up,' said Suzie, once her friend was safely up the stairs.

'Yes, but how?' said Caroline, leaning back into the depths of her armchair and reading over her completed essay.

'I don't know,' said Suzie truthfully, who, even if she had ideas, was always shy about offering them in case her friends laughed at her. 'What makes Lily happy?'

'Let me see,' said Sarah, who had abandoned all hope of coming up with the extra foot needed for her Potions essay and was packing away her ink, 'Her cat, but we can't do anything on that front... She likes doing well; again, we can't do anything about that… Books, now that we could do something about!'

'She's already read all the books we own, including any textbooks, and she's also read any fiction from the Library that she thought looked good,' said Suzie, who remembered that sort of thing.

'Oh,' said Sarah, disappointed, 'We could… We could…'

'We could get her a boyfriend,' said Caroline. Suzie and Sarah both turned to look at her. Suzie wasn't sure about the idea; Lily hadn't exactly had great experiences with her previous boyfriends. Sarah, however, looked thoughtful.

'You know, Caroline, you actually have a good idea there.'

'You sound surprised.'

'I am surprised.'

'Yes, but…' mumbled Suzie, 'you know she had a bad experience with Longbottom last year; I don't want this guy to dump her and her to be even more unhappy! And anyway, who would it be?'

'Uh,' said Caroline, who had not thought this part of the idea out, 'How about… Black?' Seeing her friends' raised eyebrows, she added, 'He… owes me, and he's fun. That's what Lily needs right now.'

'What does he owe you for?' asked Sarah.

'Never you mind, girlies, never you mind.'

'But… Caroline, it's _Sirius Black_,' said Suzie.

'Who else do you suggest?'

'Potter?' said Sarah.

'Would Lily even consider going out with Potter?'

'Would Lily even consider going out with Black?'

'Point taken,' Caroline sighed, and then said, 'Now _that_ you should be surprised at.'

'What?'

'Me being wrong. You should record it, in fact, as it is such a rarity.'

'If I recorded it every time you were wrong, I would be recording for all eternity.'

As Caroline and Sarah bickered, Suzie was thinking. She really did want Lily to be happy. They couldn't ask anyone in the other houses as they didn't really know them well enough to know if they were a good match for Lily, so they were out. The seventh-years? No, they all had girlfriends already. Fifth-years? No, they were all horrible little gits; that left the sixth-years. Pettigrew? No, she'd already gone out with him, in third year. Potter? That would be cute, but Lily would never go for it. Black? That most certainly would not work. Lupin?

'How about Lupin?' she suggested.

'Lupin…' exclaimed Caroline, 'Great idea, Suze!'

Suzie smiled at the compliment, ignoring the nickname, and they turned to Sarah for her opinion. Sarah had a funny look on her face, and she said, in a strangely high voice,

'No… no, not Lupin!'

'Why not? He's the best choice so far,' said Caroline.

'Just… no! It… it wouldn't work out?'

'It might! They –' Caroline stopped mid-sentence as she cottoned on to Sarah's problem with trying Lupin. Fully knowing that Sarah liked Lupin, even if Sarah didn't know it herself, she added, letting the words slowly roll off her tongue, 'They're both sweet… kind… generous… perfect…'

'Shut up!' squeaked Sarah, before continuing, in a calm manner, 'Remus helps Potter and Black with their pranks, so he's probably like them deep down inside or something, and that would completely ruin the relationship, and make Lily sad again.'

'Remus, eh?' Caroline raised an eyebrow.

'What?'

'You called him Remus.'

'No,' said Sarah, slowly, 'I-I didn't call him Remus.'

'Don't deny it, Davies, I can tell when you're lying.'

'Guys!' interrupted Suzie, 'Back to Lily?' Caroline and Sarah looked at her, almost guiltily, and she continued, 'Well, we have to choose someone. I personally think Lupin is –'

'No,' moaned Sarah, 'Just… please.'

'Well then who?

* * *

'Black,' said Caroline, authoritatively, 'We need to speak to you.'

'We? I'd rather speak to you alone, Hawling,' replied Sirius Black.

'None of that, you naughty boy,' said Caroline, slapping his wrist, 'Just come with us and I'll buy you a sweetie.'

'Really?'

'No. I was being patronising. But _come on_!'

Caroline pulled Sirius out of his seat, and dragged him away. Suzie looked back at the other boys. James was fiddling forlornly with his parchment, while Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew played chess. There were only a few pieces left on the board; Peter moved his bishop and took out Remus' knight.

'Check,' said Peter, satisfied.

'I'm an idiot,' groaned Remus, burying his head in his hands.

'No, you're not! You're –' said Sarah, who was standing next to Suzie, also watching. Remus and Peter looked at her. She stammered slightly as she continued, 'I-I mean… Uh… Oh, Caroline wants us, come on, Suzie!'

She grabbed Suzie's arm and Suzie followed her over to the corner, where Caroline and Sirius were standing.

'Took you long enough,' drawled Caroline.

'Shut up. Get to the point,' replied Sarah.

'Fine,' said Caroline, 'So, Black, you may be wondering why we've cornered you here –'

'It's not blackmail or anything!' piped in Suzie excitedly. The other three stared at her, and she realised what she'd said. 'It… it sounded better in my head.'

Sirius raised an eyebrow, and turned back to Caroline.

'As I was saying, you're here because you're going to go out with Lily Evans.'

'_What_?'

'Lily needs cheering up, and you seem quite fun to be around, so you're going to do it. Simple as that,' said Caroline matter-of-factly. Sirius laughed loudly. Caroline added, 'It's not a joke, Black.'

He looked at her as if she was crazy. 'Me? And Evans?'

'Yes, genius, you and Evans.'

Sirius blinked at her.

'You actually mean it?'

'Just how many times will I need to say it, Black?' As he stared at her, she sighed, and added, 'If you don't, I am perfectly willing to tell people about a certain… something.'

'About what?'

Caroline leaned forward and whispered something to him. Sarah and Suzie watched, amused, as his face turned from sceptical to terrified, and his skin tone to white, except for his cheeks, which had gone bright red.

'How do you know about that?'

'It doesn't matter how, it matters that I do. Now, will you go out with Evans?'

'I'll try to the best of my ability to get her to go out with me.'

'Good boy,' said Caroline, smiling sweetly, 'Now scram, we have girl stuff to talk about.'

'What kind of girl stuff?'

'The menstrual cycle.'

'Which is?'

'Something I don't think you really want to know about.'

'Oh,' said Sirius, and he went off back to the boys. Caroline had a satisfied air as she turned to look at the other two.

'Well, that went well, didn't it?'

'What were you threatening him with, out of curiosity?' asked Sarah as they walked back towards the fire.

'If I told you, I'd be breaking my promise to him.'

'And you're known for keeping promises?'

'Yes, in fact, I am.'

Suzie sat down by her Charms homework and tuned out Sarah and Caroline's voices. She couldn't help thinking, as she stared into the flames, that Black would be a terrible boyfriend for Lily. Black was immature, loved pranks and parties, and had no shame whatsoever, while Lily was mature, sensible and responsible. They said that opposites attract, but Lily could never like Black.

It was interesting that Sarah liked Lupin. Suzie wasn't quite sure whether Sarah actually realised it or not, but at any rate she did. Once Lily had a boyfriend, even Black, maybe Sarah and Lupin would start going out, and that would be cute.

Suzie sighed. She was too shy to go out with anyone. She wouldn't be able to say anything on the date, let alone actually ask someone out. Mostly she just hung around with her friends, letting them do the talking, and they didn't seem to mind that much. She supposed she could get Sarah, or maybe even Lily, to help her ask someone out, but that would be embarrassing, and who could she go out with anyway?

* * *

Review! 

I want your opinions of Magic 8 balls. Just... because.

Hepsa


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Nope.

Here's chapter two. Please be patient, plot will arrive eventually. It's like the tortoise and the hare; slow and steady plot, erm, wins the race. I don't what race this is, but perhaps, with my slow and steady plot, I shall find out.

Anyway, ignoring that paragraph, thanks to my Beta, Larka.

* * *

Peter watched, satisfied, as his rook slid forward across the board. He hadn't taken any of Remus' pieces that turn, but you didn't always to take something to win. He leant back on his chair as Remus took his turn at considering the board.

Sirius and James were actually doing homework. It had been due in two days ago, but it was almost a surprise to see them doing it at all, especially at this late hour when they would normally be under the Invisibility Cloak, sneaking down to the kitchens. Sirius was struggling to come up with another paragraph, or even sentence, and James seemed to be drawing something that Peter couldn't make out.

'What's that, Prongs?' he asked cheerfully, and James looked up, startled, and quickly erased his doodle.

'Nothing, Wormtail, nothing,' he said, 'Only my Transfiguration homework.'

Peter didn't believe him, but nodded and continued looking around the room. A bunch of fifth-year girls were hanging about near their table, pointing and waving at Sirius and James. James was ignoring them, but Sirius waved back and winked at them. They squealed as one.

Then there were some second years stumbling over some Potions homework; the first-years had already gone up to bed, for the most part. A fourth-year sat at a table, reading a textbook, and a third-year boy had just tried to get up the girls' staircase alone. Peter almost snorted; silly boy, didn't he know you had to have a girl with you?

That was that for the right side of the room. On the other side, there were some fifth-year boys, who were obviously plotting some amateur prank, based on their hurried whispers and excited laughter. A seventh-year couple, making out, were leaning against the wall, with another seventh-year couple wolf-whistling at them, and by the fire were the sixth-year girls.

Hawling and Davies seemed to be arguing; they were standing up and yelling at each other. Although Peter couldn't hear the words over various other noises in the room, he knew it wasn't a serious argument. If it was a serious argument, they would be having it in their dorm, or Evans and Gibson would also be involved. The said Evans was looking irritated, but working diligently on some sort of homework, while Gibson was staring into the fire, a dreamy look on her face. Her blonde hair was in two braids, as usual, and even from the other side of the room Peter could see they were coming undone.

'Peter!' came Remus' voice, and Peter's head swivelled around to look at him, 'Your turn.'

'What did you do?'

'Take your pawn.'

Peter sighed dramatically and thought about his move for a while. He could move his rook _there_; that would check Remus' king… but no, the his queen could then take his piece. He could move his bishop… it would be safe, but it wouldn't really do much. Ah! One of his two remaining pawns could be moved further down the board safely now. He'd do that.

'Your turn, Remus.'

Remus tilted his head to look at the board, and was concentrating very hard. Peter just hoped he wouldn't move his knight. He resumed looking at the girls. Evans was packing up her stuff and was now heading towards the stairs, looking angry. Gibson was watching her with a sad look on her face, as was Davies, and Hawling was looking at her essay, and leaning back in her chair.

'Peter!' came Remus' voice again, 'Stop your daydreaming and concentrate! And anyway, check.'

Peter looked at him guiltily, and then down at the board. He _had_ moved his knight. Peter needed to get his next move right, or he could lose the game. He stared at the board for a while. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Remus absent-mindedly tapping his fingers on the edge of the chess board, and then he saw his move. He moved his bishop to Remus' knight, checking him.

'Check!' he crowed triumphantly. Remus groaned and put his head in his hands.

'I'm an idiot.'

'No, you're not! You're –' burst out Sarah Davies, who Peter now noticed was standing there with Gibson, watching their game. Davies' cheeks suddenly went turned red, and she stammered out, 'I-I mean… Uh… Oh, Caroline wants us, come on, Suzie!'

She grabbed Gibson's arm and they went off to where Hawling was standing with Sirius. Peter vaguely wondered why he was there, and watched them talking. Davies and Gibson were merely watching, standing on the sidelines, as Hawling negotiated with him. Peter noticed him go pale, and meekly leave a few sentences later.

'What was that about, Sirius?' he asked, as Sirius returned.

'I'm getting a new girlfriend,' came the gloomy reply.

'I have two questions,' said Peter, 'Firstly, why is that bad? And secondly, is it Hawling?'

'What? Hawling, no!' said Sirius in one breath, 'And I'm gloomy because it's…' He looked at James nervously.

'Who, Sirius?' asked Remus, looking up from the chess game.

'It's… Evans,' he said quietly. James' head snapped up from looking at the floor, and Remus and Peters' mouths fell open.

'_What_?' they all said.

'It's not like I want to,' whimpered Sirius, 'Hawling is making me!'

'Surely you can stand up to Hawling?' said Remus.

'But she's scary!'

'Padfoot!' roared James, standing up dramatically. The common room was silent. James let out a low growl and stormed up the stairs.

'James!' called Sirius, running after him. All the Gryffindors in the room, except for Hawling, who was going up the girls' stairs, stared at Peter and Remus for a while, even after Sirius had left, as if waiting for an explanation.

'Yes?' said Remus eventually, raising an eyebrow, and everyone returned to what they were doing. Peter and Remus attempted to continue their chess game, but with their friends' drama going on, they couldn't really concentrate, so they packed away the board, and prepared to go up to bed. As they were about to go, Sarah and Suzie wandered over.

'Yes?' said Peter.

'Oh, we're so sorry!' burst out Sarah, and she continued, all in one breath, 'We didn't want you guys to fight! We didn't even think of it! It's just to cheer Lily up, you understand? Oh, please get it through to Potter that it's not going to last, because it isn't!'

'How –' began Remus, but he was cut off by Sarah adding more now that she had taken a breath.

'Look, Lily's been really snappy and stuff since her birthday, and Caroline thought Black would be a fun boyfriend, so she set them up, because we know Lily wouldn't go out with Potter, not when she's mad at him like this, and... and… don't let it break up your friendship!'

Sarah trailed off, and looked at Remus and Peter with an expression of pleading on her face. Suzie was standing behind her, absent-mindedly fiddling with her right braid; she twirled it round, and round, and round… Peter tore his eyes away from this and looked at Sarah.

'Since your mouths seem to have stopped working, I am going to bed. Hopefully your ears work and you've managed to register, or even hear, what I said,' she said irritably, when neither Peter nor Remus replied, and she walked off. Suzie stood there for a moment, watching her, and then followed, still twirling her blonde braid round, and round, and…

'Pull yourself together, Peter,' muttered Peter to himself, and he and Remus went up the stairs and to bed.

* * *

'Floppy Disks' is your topic: discuss.

Hepsa


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** You have three guesses. 

Another Peter chapter! It's up to you to decide whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. Anyway, I am very pleased as I have managed to write three chapters in three days, which is a record for me. Unfortunately, all that means is that productivity will probably start decreasing soon. Sorry!

And also, yes, I am concentrating on the sub-plot at the moment, but there will be more of the main plot later on.

* * *

When Peter woke up the next day, he had the nice feeling that accompanies having a nice dream. As he got ready for the day, he vaguely wondered what it was about. It was probably just one of those random dreams you have where everything is weird yet you are inexplicably happy about it.

'I'm going to breakfast,' he announced to his dorm-mates, as he stood by the door, his bag slung over his shoulder. In response Remus said something incomprehensible with his mouth full of toothpaste, and James grunted from where he lay half-asleep on his bed. Sirius looked up briefly from the previous week's Herbology homework, and nodded at him sleepily.

When Peter arrived in the Great Hall, he saw the sixth-year girls sitting at the Gryffindor table, eating their breakfast. Evans was slowly taking bites of her toast, her eyes only half open, while Hawling and Davies were having a drinking contest, to help wake them up. Gibson was watching and laughing; her braids had obviously been redone as they were no longer fraying at the edges.

When someone accidentally bumped into him, Peter realised he had just been standing there for the past minute or so, blocking the way. He hurried down the steps and settled himself down, by himself, a little ways down from the girls.

'Hah! I won again, Davies. Pay me,' said Caroline, wiping some orange juice off her lips.

'I am not paying you, Miss Hawling,' replied Sarah, 'It wasn't part of the deal, _and_ you cheated.'

Caroline gasped dramatically.

'I did not cheat! I am offended by your baseless accusation!' she exclaimed, in an indignant way. Sarah raised her eyebrows.

'Let's see about that, shall we? _Ostendo_!'

Orange juice materialised in Caroline's glass. Caroline cursed under her breath, and Sarah smiled sweetly at her.

'Say it!'

'You won…'

'Yes, indeed I did.'

Sarah resumed eating her breakfast. Peter laughed to himself; he could easily imagine his friends doing that. He sighed and helped himself to some Cornflakes. As he was pouring the milk, he heard Sarah's voice.

'Pettigrew?'

He turned to look at her. 'Yes, Davies?'

'Come sit with us until your friends get here!'

Peter was surprised at the offer, but tried not to show it; instead he nodded and scooted down the bench, with his cereal, until he was next to her.

'Thanks,' he said, before tucking into his cereal. He was careful to keep his eating habits in check in front of the girls; he was glad he wasn't as bad as James or Sirius, as even if they toned down their gross eating habits, they would still disgust everyone in the five mile vicinity.

Pleasant conversation passed around the table. It was mostly Caroline, Sarah and Lily talking, with Peter occasionally answering any questions directed at him, and Suzie being exceptionally quiet. She was diligently making her way through a bowl which had been full to the brim of cornflakes, simply listening to the conversation, and nearly dipping her braids in scrambled eggs more than once.

'How did you get on with the Potions homework, Pettigrew?' Lily asked, as she fiddled in her bag.

'Oh, um, fine,' mumbled Peter, 'I'm missing two inches though.'

'Professor Slughorn probably won't mind too much. He never does on mine.'

'Yes, but you're just about his favourite pupil, and you never miss any inches anyway,' argued Sarah, 'But don't worry, Pettigrew, you'll be fine. I'm missing a foot. Caroline's missing a whole essay!'

'I had better things to do yesterday evening than Potions homework,' was Caroline's defence.

'Like set up Li –' Sarah then stopped herself. Lily looked up, her nose wrinkling in confusion.

'What?'

'Nothing, Lily.'

'No, I heard my name, I'm sure.'

'No, you didn't.' At Lily's sceptical look, she added, 'Please, trust me, Lily!'

Lily rolled her eyes and continued eating. While she wasn't looking, Sarah grimaced, in an embarrassed way. Suzie had to stop herself from laughing by taking in double the amount of cereal that fits in the mouth at once, and Caroline tried to concentrate what would have been laughter into a glare, but ended up with a bad case of twitching lips.

After the hysteria had died down, Peter decided to include Suzie in their conversation, instead of leaving her out on the side like all her friends were doing.

'Gibson, how did you get on with the Potions homework?'

Suzie looked up, with an air of surprise, like a deer caught in headlights. She swallowed her mouthful of cornflakes and mumbled,

'Oh, fine, I've got enough,' she mumbled, 'I have big writing.'

Peter nodded and smiled at her. She gave a sort of half-smile, and looked back down at her cereal. Seeing her reaction, Peter almost wished he hadn't asked her; she really was shy.

Saving Suzie any more embarrassment, the remaining three Marauders arrived at the top of the stairs. Sirius roared something to Peter and stormed down, Remus drifted towards the table, his head in a book, and James followed Sirius, but slightly less enthusiastically. They seemed to have become friends again.

'Peter!' yelled Sirius, plonking himself down next to him, 'I see you're sitting with the girls, you sly dog!'

'Or rather, you dirty rat!' agreed James, sitting across, 'How do you get the girls to sit with you, while Evans will never agree to go on a date with me?'

Lily glowered at him from her position further down the table, but he didn't seem to notice.

'It's nothing personal, Prongs, she won't go on a date with me either,' said Sirius.

'You've never asked me,' commented Lily.

'Will you go out with me?'

'No.'

'See?'

Caroline and Sarah mouthed 'persistence' at him. Sirius squinted in concentration.

'What? Position?'

The two girls looked at each other and rolled their eyes, but didn't answer. Instead they, having finished their breakfast, they picked up their bags.

'I left my textbook in the common room last night; will you come with me to go get it?' asked Sarah.

'Of course, Sarah,' said Caroline, 'Anyone else care to join us?'

They stared at Sirius intently, but he was paying undivided attention to his breakfast. Instead, Lily got up, grabbed her bag, and said, as she started to walk off with Sarah and Caroline, 'I'll go. Suzie?'

Suzie, despite not having finished, glanced at the three risen girls and quickly agreed. She grabbed her bag and ran over to them, her braids flying about and hitting her bag with dull thuds. Peter stared at the four of them until they got out of sight.

* * *

For the rest of the day, whenever the Marauders ran into the girls, Sirius asked Lily to go out with him. Peter could see both James and Lily getting more and more irritated; it was obvious that although James and Sirius had made up, their friendship was still on rocky ground.

That evening, in the common room, both of them blew a fuse.

'I will never go out with you, Sirius Black!' yelled Lily, slamming her textbook as he asked her again. 'You're as bad – no, _worse_ – than James Potter, and I never thought I could say that about anyone!'

Forgetting her things in her rage, she stormed up the stairs. Sirius turned to the remaining three girls.

'Look, I've tried my best, can we just give it up now?'

'No,' said Caroline, 'We'll convince her.'

'How are we supposed to do that, Caroline?' asked Sarah.

'We'll find a way, never fear, ma chérie.'

'Ma chérie? How do you know French?'

'Ah, you learn something new every day. But we will work on it, Black, so you're not going to give up, are you?'

'Um…'

'_Are you_?'

'Of course not, Hawling. I would never even consider it.'

Caroline nodded and waved him away with an airy hand gesture. Sirius slouched back over to Remus, Peter and James, and said,

'Sorry, Prongs, Hawling still wants me to go out with Evans.'

James just looked at him, and snapped, 'Are you a Gryffindor or are you not?'

'That's one of the dumbest things I've ever heard you say, James,' said Remus.

'Geez, no need to get so mad about it!' yelled James, and he, in a similar way to Lily, stormed up the stairs.

'He's really taken this Evans thing badly,' said Sirius.

'Yes, well, you _could _stand up to Hawling,' commented Remus.

'But… _she knows_!'

'Knows what?'

'_She knows!_'

'Yes, we gathered that,' said Peter irritably, 'But what?'

'I'm going to bed,' Sirius said, and he got up, and did so. Remus and Peter rolled their eyes at each other.

_What could Hawling know that has so much power over Sirius? _thought Peter. He sighed, and shook the thought from his mind, and concentrated on his Transfiguration homework.

* * *

Graph paper is this chapter's review topic. Deal with it.

Hepsa


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** Nyah.

I don't really have much to say, but thanks for all your review, Lamia, and woot.

* * *

Suzie, Sarah and Caroline trudged up the stairs to their dorm after finishing their homework, to hear Lily's voice floating through the door to the bathroom, singing 'All You Need Is Love' to the accompaniment of the running tap.

'Lily?' said Sarah tentatively.

The tap turned off and Lily peered through the doorway, a pink towel wrapped around most of her hair, except for a few wet strands which were plastered to her face. She smiled dreamily, and drifted into the room, a larger pink towel wrapped around her body.

'Hey,' she said softly.

'Wow, I take it you've had a relaxing bath then?' said Sarah, looking at the very image of bliss standing in front of her.

'Uh-huh,' said Lily, who was returning to the bathroom with a pile of clothes.

'We brought your books up,' said Suzie, putting down the rather large pile of Lily's textbooks.

'Oh, did I forget them?' said Lily, dazed, from behind the closed bathroom door. She was occasionally like this after relaxing; confused, forgetful and generally half-asleep.

'Yes, you did,' said Sarah, 'You have to finish your Herbology homework.'

'But I did my homework last week!'

'Yes, you did last week's homework last week. Lily, get a grip on yourself, please.'

There was no response.

'Lily?'

'I nodded!'

Sarah threw up her hands in exasperation and sat down on her bed, kicking her shoes off. Suzie sat down next to her, her hands folded demurely in her lap. Caroline, however, yelled,

'Lily, go out with Black.'

There was silence for a minute, until Lily opened the door. Her good mood seemed to have vanished instantly. Her eyebrows were raised, and she hadn't yet put on her pyjama bottoms.

'What?'

Sarah gritted her teeth, in exasperation about Caroline this time, and Suzie started chewing the end of her braid. Caroline, however, looked Lily straight in the eyes and said,

'You heard me. Go out with Black.'

Lily stared at her for a few seconds, and then, laughing, went back into the bathroom, and, pulling up her pyjama bottoms, said,

'It's not a particularly funny joke, Caroline, but I suppose my reaction if I hadn't realised would have been funny to you.'

'I'm not joking, Lily.'

Lily turned around from the sink and looked at her.

'Well you should be,' she hissed, and she stormed out of the bathroom, slamming the door on her way. She threw herself onto a bed, and, before she could draw the curtains, Caroline did the same.

'Get off my bed!' shrieked Lily.

'No.'

'Get off my bed.'

'I said no.'

'I have every right to be here, seeing as it's _my _bed,' said Caroline. Lily peered over the end, and, sure enough, C. Hawling was printed.

'OK, then, I'll get off!'

Lily pushed herself up and Caroline yelled, '_Petrificus Totalus_!'

Lily fell down to the floor, rigid as a board. Suzie gasped, Sarah merely stared, and Caroline shrugged.

'Had to. Now, Lily, I never wanted to do that, but you were being a bad girl and needed to be punished,' she said, sitting down on the floor next to Lily, 'Now, why are you not going to go out with Black?'

Lily's eyes looked intently at Caroline, who stared back at them until she realised she had to let Lily speak. She muttered the counter-curse, and Lily sat up, seething.

'That was not necessary, Caroline. That was _assault_.'

'Answer the question.'

'Well, I'm going to say it's because he's Black, maybe?'

'And?'

'And… and… and he – he's Black, Caroline! Surely you, Sarah – or you, Suzie – understand what I mean?'

'I don't care if _they_ understand,' said Caroline, '_I_ don't understand, and I'm not letting you get away with it until I do.'

Lily eyed her suspiciously.

'Why are you so intent on this? You were never this bad about Potter, and he's persisted… I can't even remember a time when Potter wasn't chasing after me!'

'I think that you should go out with Black because he's fun, and that's what you need right now,' said Caroline calmly. Lily raised her eyebrows.

'Fun? Is your idea of fun sneaking to the kitchen, cramming your face full of chocolate and then running about after dark, to get eaten by werewolves or the like?'

'Werewolves aren't evil, and they only come out on the full moon,' said Sarah quietly.

'Yes, but… _Sarah_!'

'What?'

'Are you helping her?'

'Yes. I think you do need some fun, Lily. You've been so snappy since your birthday, and we miss you, Lily. We know you're not always fun, no one is, but you've not been fun at all these past few weeks and…' Sarah trailed off, like she always did during at the end of her one-breath speeches.

'Sarah…'

'It's true. Please, consider it, for us.'

'Suzie?'

Suzie looked up from her braids, which she was unravelling, and at Lily.

'Yes?'

'Do you agree with them?'

'I –' She hesitated. Both Caroline and Lily were looking at her with identical expressions, 'I – I agree with Caroline and Sarah.'

Caroline smirked, and Lily sighed, 'I haven't been that bad, have I?'

'After your bath earlier, you were in the only good mood you've been this week, until Caroline ruined it of course,' said Sarah.

'Hey! It was important!'

'Seeing as the point was to get Lily in a good mood, couldn't have let us experience this good mood first?'

'You saw how much her overall mood level dropped when I brought it up. Imagine how low it would be if it started off reasonably low in the first place.'

Lily then interrupted her friends bickering, 'I'll consider one date, but only for you guys. Don't think I'm going to spend my life with him or something.'

'Thank you, Lily!' chorused Sarah and Caroline, with Suzie joining in on the 'Lily'.

'The things I do for you guys…' muttered Lily, going onto her own bed and drawing the curtains.

'That went well,' said Caroline, cheerfully, returning to her bed, 'Good night, Sarah, Suzie.'

'I'm going to bed too,' said Sarah, 'Good night, Suzie.'

Suzie smiled at her as she waved in a friendly way, so she pulled herself up from Sarah's bed. Sarah leant over the edge of her bed and searched in her trunk for a minute, took out her pyjamas, and, with a smile to Suzie, closed the curtains. Suzie sighed.

Now that all her friends had disappeared to bed, Suzie decided she would to. She walked over to her bed, drew the curtains, and put her pyjamas on. After letting her hair out of her braids she sunk down under the duvet and lay there, thinking. She understood Lily's reaction to the Black situation completely. They were not compatible in any way! She didn't really understand why Caroline was so up for it. After all, they could bring fun to Lily, couldn't they? She didn't need a boyfriend.

Suzie sighed. Lily, Caroline and Sarah all seemed perfectly happy without a boyfriend, but lately she'd been thinking about it more and more. She was lonely; she needed someone she could really be with, share everything with, and be close with. Sure, she had her friends, but they seemed closer to each other than she was to them, probably because of her shyness. Why couldn't she be more confident?

That was what really bugged her, she supposed, her lack of confidence. She had been so embarrassed at breakfast when Peter had asked her about her Potions homework! More embarrassed than usual. She'd looked up, startled, and mumbled something brief and gone on about her big writing. Well, maybe she hadn't gone on about it, but she'd mentioned it, and that was bad enough.

Suzie sighed, and ordered her rather jumbled thoughts. She sank further into her bed; she loved its feel. She'd sorely miss it when she left. What was she thinking about now! She wouldn't be leaving for another year and a bit; she had plenty of time to worry about life after Hogwarts, so why start now?

Suzie decided to stop thinking so much and get to sleep. She let herself go numb on the pillow. She could hear the scratch of a quill – probably Lily doing her Herbology homework. She could hear random coughs – that one was Lily, and _that _one Sarah – and the thrash of duvets. With these comfortable, usual sounds still drifting through her ears, she went to sleep.

* * *

'Mouldy apples' is your topic; your rather unpleasant topic, but your topic all the same.

Hepsa


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I would have to say… let me think about it… um… no?

Sorry, it's been a while.

* * *

Suzie woke up to the shrill sound of Sarah's alarm clock. She slowly opened her eyes, taking in the blurry curtains and the light streaming onto her bed through the small gap where they met. There was an angry grunt, courtesy of Lily, and the ringing stopped. She sat up, rubbed some of the sleepy dust out of her eyes, and opened the curtains. 

'Hey,' she said sleepily.

'Hey, Suzie,' Sarah croaked. She coughed, and, with no change in her voice, repeated, 'Hey, Suzie.'

'I hate morning voice,' groaned Caroline, having heard Sarah, from behind her curtains.

'I hate _mornings_,' grumbled Lily, also from behind her curtains. Sarah pulled herself up and off the bed, and started rummaging in her trunk for her clothes. Eventually she took out some crumpled garments and went into the bathroom, yawning. Suzie followed her example and got changed behind her curtains.

When she emerged, Caroline was up; she was standing in the middle of the room, and looking around, blinking, in a confused way.

'Caroline?' said Suzie.

'What?' she grunted in reply.

'Lily!' yelled Sarah, coming out of the bathroom, and no longer croaking, 'Get up this instant!'

There was no response, so Sarah yanked opened the curtains to reveal Lily, fast asleep. Sarah sighed, and yanked Lily's duvet off of her. Lily groaned.

'Gowaysstoeuhi…'

'At least you're awake now,' said Sarah, 'Honestly, Lily, you're so dreadful in the mornings.'

'Mmph,' replied Lily, sitting up, seeing as she didn't really have much of a choice. Sarah smiled, satisfied, told Lily that if she wasn't down within half-an-hour she would regret it, and went down to breakfast. Suzie followed.

They sat down at the table. Sarah was buttering her bread and Suzie was digging into her usual bowl of cornflakes when the Marauders came down. Well, Remus, Peter and Sirius came down, but not James.

'Hey!' Sarah shouted, 'Where's Potter?'

'In bed still,' said Remus, sitting next to her, 'He's taking it badly.'

'I thought you guys made up?'

'Well, we didn't,' said Sirius, looking forlorn.

'Oh, Black! I'm so sorry! I –'

'Please, don't be,' cut in Sirius, before Sarah could give a gushing speech. Sarah stopped and looked down at her bread again.

'Gibson?' came Peter's voice. Suzie turned her head to him. He appeared to be blushing.

'Um…' he mumbled, before letting out in one breath, 'what happened to your braids?'

Suzie felt her hair. She slapped her hand to her mouth, and gasped.

'I completely forgot this morning! Oh, I haven't even brushed it properly. Thanks for reminding me, Pettigrew!'

Peter muttered something in reply, but Suzie was already up and running to the stairs, her cornflakes forgotten. He watched her for a while, until a sudden voice snapped him out of his reverie.

'Wormtail!' Peter looked at Remus, and he continued, 'Something wrong?'

'No, no, nothing's wrong,' said Peter quickly, and he joined in Sirius, Remus and Sarah's conversation.

* * *

Suzie arrived in the girls' dorm to find Lily and Caroline arguing about something trivial, as per usual. 

'Hey,' she said quietly as she slipped in. Lily and Caroline didn't seem to notice.

'Caroline, that _was_ my shampoo!' snapped Lily, while Caroline blow-dried her hair with her wand in front of the mirror.

'Oh, but it wasn't.'

'Oh, but it was.'

'I know it was mine, Lily, because mine was the one with the white cap, and yours was the one with the blue cap.'

'Caroline, it was the other way round!'

'I remember because I said to myself, "mine is the one with the white cap".'

'Why would anyone normal say that to themselves? You're making it up.'

'Yes, but since when was I normal?'

'Lily! Caroline!' said Suzie, 'Could I use the mirror please?'

Caroline rolled her eyes and stepped away from the mirror. Suzie sat down, Summoned her brush and started brushing away at some tangles on the left side of her hair. Lily was about to make a retort to what Caroline had said, when Suzie interrupted,

'And why does it matter which one you used? They're both the same anyway, just with different caps. Next time, you, Lily, can use the one you think is Caroline's, and you'll be even.'

Lily and Caroline opened their mouths and closed them again. They were rarely told off by Suzie, and so it was very effective whenever it happened. Meekly, Lily sat down on her bed, and started looking through her bag, while Caroline left the room.

'Lily?' said Suzie after a while, when Lily got up and went to the door.

'Yes?'

'Could you please wait for me?'

'Sure,' said Lily, going over to her, 'Do you want help with your braids?'

'Yes, thanks.'

'No problem.'

Lily sat down next to Suzie and started braiding her hair on the right side, while Suzie did the now-brushed left.

'Did you do your Herbology, Lily?'

'Yeah, I did it last night.'

'How did you find it?'

'Oh, it was fine, I wrote three inches more than needed.'

'Typical Lily!'

Lily laughed, and the two sat in companionable silence for a while, until Suzie's hair was finished.

'Et voila!' exclaimed Lily, grinning and looking at the finished braids admiringly.

Suzie smiled. She knew that Lily liked Sarah more than her, and was probably closer to Caroline, for all their arguing, but speaking in foreign languages was something Lily only did with her.

'Danke schön,' said Suzie. She got up, and stood by the door for a while, waiting for Lily, who was now sitting on her bed, rummaging in her bag.

'What are you looking for?'

'Looking for?'

'In your bag?'

'Oh, um… um…'

'What are you doing if you're not looking for something?'

Lily sighed and looked at her feet, before saying, 'I just… don't want to go down yet.'

'Why not?'

'I don't know what to say to Black.' Suzie went over to sit by her. Lily sighed again, and added, 'If I say yes to him, I'll be accepting a date with… Black! And if I say no, I'll invoke Caroline's wrath! Suzie, what should I do?'

Suzie swallowed.

'I think you should… I don't know. It's your choice, Lily.'

'Please… do you think I should go out with Black?'

'Look, really, it's your choice!'

'Suzie, please give me _some_ sort of opinion! I can't choose on my own!'

'I don't really have an opinion though.'

'Suzie!'

'I think maybe it would do you some good to have a boyfriend, but I don't want you to get hurt, Lily. As I said, it's your choice.'

Lily sighed for a third time, and thought about it for a while. Suzie watched her until finally she got up.

'Come on, Suzie. Let's go.'

'What are you going to do about it?'

'I'm going to go to breakfast and eat. I'm too hungry to sit around thinking.'

'But –'

'I'll see how I feel on the spur of the moment, OK?'

'OK.'

Lily strode out of the dorm, and Suzie followed warily. When they arrived in the Great Hall, Lily, as she had predicted, was instantly faced with the Sirius Black dilemma.

'Evans? Will you go out with me?' he yelled, much to the amusement of the other students, a lot of whom began sniggering.

'Um…'

Behind Sirius, Lily could see Caroline nodding her head violently. She wetted her lips to stall for time, and, once Caroline started getting tired of nodding as she'd been doing it for so long, waiting, Suzie whispered, 'Why not? It can't hurt too much…'

Lily considered these words briefly, and yelled back, 'Sure, Black, whatever!'

Sirius leapt to his feet and did a little dance, which also made the students laugh. Lily sighed, and mumbled, 'I'm going to regret this, aren't I?' before joining the others at the table.

* * *

If you don't know:

Et voila, in this case, basically means 'there you go!' or 'and finished!' in French.

Danke schön is 'Thank you very much' in German.

Your topic is 'Common Sense' by Thomas Paine. It's some book that's lying around in the school library, where I am writing this. If you have read it, or have even heard of it, please say so.

Hepsa


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** Don't own. Deal with it.

This is the first chapter I wrote after I posted Chapter 1. Woot!

As always, read Jelly Is Good! and other offshoots, they're good.

* * *

The next day, Peter watched as Sirius ran around the dorm, worrying. It wasn't so much that he was worried about having a good impression on Lily because he liked her, but because he was scared of what Caroline would do if he didn't. 

'Remus! Peter!'

'Yes?' said Remus, and Peter just looked at him.

'Should I wear this,' he said, holding up a blue sweater, 'or this?' He held up a black sweater.

'The black one,' said Remus, at the same time as Peter said, 'The blue one.'

'Ah! Not helpful!' fretted Sirius, 'The red one!'

'No, definitely don't wear the red one;' said Remus, 'it looks like you've poured a can of tomatoes mixed with leaves on yourself.'

Sirius sighed, and pulled out a grey sweater, 'Is this one OK?'

'Yes, it's good,' said Peter.

'Prongs?'

James was sitting on his bed, doing homework, which was a sure sign something was wrong. He had been ignoring the three of them to this point, but now he looked up.

'What?'

'What do you think of the grey sweater?'

James sighed, and said, 'It's fine, Sirius.'

'Yes, but… look, James, I'm sorry.'

James gave him a look, but then put on a grudging smile, 'Forgiven. It's all Hawling's fault anyway.'

Sirius beamed at him, and asked, 'You seem to know Evans, James, could you tell me what she likes?'

'What?' mumbled Peter to Remus, 'James doesn't know Evans well!'

'Well, Padfoot,' said James, sitting up, 'You see, our dear friend Evans enjoys midnight trips to the kitchens. She loves sneaking out to Hogsmeade after dark, and she adores plotting and pulling pranks on the Slytherins.'

Remus opened his mouth to comment, but while Sirius looked down, contemplating James' information, James did a slashing motion over his throat. Both Remus and Peter decided not to say anything.

'Interesting, interesting,' said Sirius, 'I never would have thought that of Evans.'

'Yes, well, she's a closet rule-breaker,' said James, 'When does your date start?'

'Six. I was thinking of taking Evans out to the grounds for a bit, and then I'll use your suggestions.'

'She'll have the time of her life. And Padfoot, you are going out with her, so call her Lily.'

'Of course,' said Sirius, pulling some black trousers out of his trunk. He turned to Peter's bed, and held them up. 'Good, bad, OK?'

Remus put his thumbs up, and Peter said, 'It's fine, Sirius.'

Sirius quickly changed, and displayed the finished product for all to see. Peter and Remus nodded approvingly, and James grinned.

'Perfect then!' said Sirius, delighted, 'See you later, Prongsie, Moony… er, Wormtaily?'

'I'd prefer Wormtail.'

'But it doesn't rhyme!'

'You can call me Wormtaily if I can call you Padfooty.'

Sirius scowled, 'OK. Wormtail it is then.' He grinned widely, then waved, grabbed the Invisibility Cloak off the pile of clothes near James' bed, and marched down the stairs singing an unrecognisable tune. Peter, Remus and James looked at each other, and followed.

'Why were you saying that stuff to Sirius?' asked Peter as they went out, 'About Evans liking pranks and stuff?'

'I have loved Evans forever. Padfoot wouldn't suit her. I was acting in her best interests!' replied James, 'And if it had really bothered you two, you would have stopped me, despite my warnings.'

'I suppose,' said Peter, and they peered around a corner in the staircase to see what was happening. Lily and Sirius were standing by the portrait exit, Sirius gallantly offering Lily his arm, and Lily smiling and taking it. Peter and Remus could hear James gagging.

'James! It's one of your best friends! You should be happy for him!' said Remus, slightly irritably.

'Yes, well, I'm not,' said James, and, seeing the portrait shut behind Sirius and Lily, the three burst into the common room. To their surprise, a minute later, three girls burst in as well, from the girls' staircase.

'Potter! Lupin! Pettigrew!'

'Gibson! Hawling! Davies!'

Having recited each others' last names, they looked at each other awkwardly.

'You made up with Black, Potter?' asked Sarah.

'Um… yeah…' said James. Remus was going to say something, but James bopped him, 'Evans pleased about the date?'

'I should expect so. She did accept after all,' said Caroline. Seeing the heartbroken look on his face, she added, 'She only accepted because we pushed her to, so… maybe not.'

'Why are you so intent on setting them up, Hawling?' asked Peter.

'No reason,' said Caroline nonchalantly, shrugging, 'Anyway, we're waiting down here for their date to end, you're welcome to join us if you wish.'

'Thank you for your invitation,' said Remus, taking a seat around the fire, 'We accept.'

'Excellent,' said Caroline in a posh accent, 'Care for some tea?'

* * *

It was nearing midnight, and the six Gryffindors were still around the fire, waiting. The boys had snuck down to the kitchens, using the Marauder's Map and avoiding people, and brought up a feast, much to the delight of the hungry girls. As they sat there, munching on various desserts, their conversation, which had at first been silly, was now moving onto more profound subjects. 

'So what are your plans for when you're older?'

Sarah looked thoughtful. 'I don't really know. I'm hoping to be an Auror, but that will take a lot of work… Get married, maybe – _hopefully_ – have a couple of kids. You know, the usual.'

'Basically the same,' said Remus, 'But I'd love to work in the Department of Mysteries.'

'Auror for me,' said James, 'I'd love to have loads of kids with Ev – I mean, _my future wife_ as well.'

Peter, having spotted the 'Ev', looked around to see who else had spotted it. Suzie caught his eye and they gave each other knowing looks, before snorting and casting non-verbal Silencing charms on each other to control their laughter.

'Yep, it'll be Auror, then the brood,' said Caroline, 'Suzie?'

She, along with everyone else, turned to Suzie. Being unable to talk, Suzie gave Peter a desperate glance, and he looked sheepish and took off his Silencing spell.

'Suzie… Are you too tired to stay up past seven thirty? It's past your bedtime, honey,' said Caroline.

Suzie rolled her eyes, and said, 'No, I'm fine, Caroline. Anyway, I don't want to be an Auror. I'm going to be a Healer, I think.'

'Maybe you could Heal Caroline's verbal diarrhoea with a Sealing Solution, so that she will be unable to talk, and we can entertain ourselves,' suggested Sarah, 'Anyway… you, Pettigrew?'

'Yeah, Peter, we don't know either,' chipped in Remus.

Peter didn't know what came over him, but he decided to announce his secret ambition, which he had had ever since he had come to Hogwarts, to the group. He had always been scared they would laugh at him.

'I… I want to be the History of Magic professor.'

Varying degrees of laughter passed through the group, most prominent in Caroline and James. Peter's heart sunk; he had known that would happen. He sighed sadly, and looked at the others. Remus and Sarah were chuckling slightly, both wondering if Professor Binns, who had not let _death_ stop him, after all, would _ever _retire, while Suzie wasn't laughing at all. In fact, she looked angry.

'Why on earth are you laughing!' she shrieked, 'He has every right to be a History of Magic professor if he wants to! Just because you – Caroline, Potter – find the subject boring or you can't stand the idea of teaching a bunch of, in your opinion, 'brats' – again, you, _Caroline, and you, Potter_ – doesn't mean you should laugh at him for wanting to! You can't see past the end of your nose, can you, the lot of you?'

Caroline and James stopped laughing instantly, as, like Caroline and Lily the previous morning, they were stunned into silence by Suzie's outburst. Sarah blinked at her, bewildered, and Remus just looked at the ground. Suzie, after saying this, looked down too, biting her lip, and Peter just stared at her, willing her to look at him, but she didn't. They stayed like that for a moment, until Remus pulled out the Marauder's Map and gasped.

'Sirius and Evans are returning!'

The girls squinted at the back of the parchment, trying to discover what it was, but Remus had murmured something and, when he put it down, they saw it was just blank parchment.

'How do you know?' asked Sarah, but the boys all ignored her question. The six got up and moved closer to the portrait hole, to greet the new arrivals. As they went there, chatting and wondering how the date had gone, Peter caught up with Suzie.

'Gibson?'

'Mmm?'

'What happened there?'

'I don't think there's anything wrong with your ambition to be a History of Magic professor,' said Suzie, shrugging, 'I've read the textbook and it's actually quite interesting when Professor Binns isn't teaching it. You'd probably be a greatprofessor.'

'I'd never told anyone before because that is exactly what I feared would happen,' he said.

'Well, they're idiots then,' said Suzie, 'There was no reason to laugh at you, so I defended you. And besides,' she smiled slightly, 'you noticed my braids.'

She wandered off to speak to Sarah. Peter stood there, feeling awed and slightly embarrassed. He had never known Suzie to get angry like that before. She must really have felt strongly about it.

As he considered this, suddenly the portrait opened. The six looked on in horror as Lily came through, her clothes charred and dirty, and anger written all over her face.

* * *

'School clocks' is your topic. If you're stuck on what to say about them, then ponder this question: Why do they _always_ break? 

Hepsa


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** Yadda yadda yadda.

This is longest chapter so far, and (accordingly) took me the longest time to write. Thanks to my Gamma, Lamia, who finally began Gammaing this chapter.

* * *

'Oh… god,' murmured Sarah, while Lily glared around at her friends and the Marauders.

'Oh god _what_, Sarah?' snapped Lily, advancing towards her, having picked on her as a target, 'Who was the one that wanted me to go on this date? _You_!'

'Actually, it was Caroline,' pointed out Suzie. Lily ignored her, and swooped over to her.

'And the little non-entity Suzie! Who wouldn't put me off, just rambling on about choices and how I was the one who had to choose! If you'd given one word of opinion for once in your life, you would have been able to stop this date. And wouldn't we all be _plus content_?'

Suzie swallowed and desperately tried not to cry at this cold, verbal abuse from Lily, and the way Lily had thrown their special foreign languages thing back at her in such a hurtful way. Caroline's eyes flashed dangerously, and she strode forward, and slapped Lily open handed. There was an audible smacking sound as her palm connected with Lily's face. Lily stepped backwards, gasping and putting her hands to her stinging cheek. She suddenly hunched her back and stormed towards Caroline, her hand raised to hit her back. Caroline grabbed her arm before Lily made contact.

'Don't hit me, Lily,' she said calmly.

'You hit me!' shrieked Lily, struggling to get her arm out of Caroline's grasp.

'You deserved it. Apologise to Suzie,' said Caroline. It was strange. Caroline didn't really lose her temper when she got angry. She just became very serious. The angrier she was, the less she let it show. It could be very creepy.

'What for? What I said is true!' Caroline slapped Lily again.

Suzie could no longer hold it, and a tear started rolling down her cheek. Peter, who had been standing next to her, tentatively put his arm around her, patting her on the back.

'Caroline –' started Sarah, but Caroline raised her hand to stop her.

'That wasn't true; it was downright cruel,' she said to Lily, her voice and expression level. 'The way you're acting right now is appalling. I'm almost ashamed to know you.'

She released Lily's arm and stepped back. Lily growled, and was about to say something more when Sarah started yelling.

'Lily, Caroline, stop fighting!' she said, hysterically, 'You're not making the situation any better, Caroline, stop slapping her!'

'Did you _hear_ what she said to Suzie?' asked Caroline in response.

'Yes, I did, and it _was_ horrible, but don't make it worse.'

Caroline and Sarah glared at each other, with Lily glaring at no one in particular behind them. The boys glanced at each other.

'I've always heard that when girls fight it's sexy, but this is just scary,' said Sirius. All the girls turned their heads to him, with angry looks on their faces after this particularly tactless comment. Lily strode forward.

'Y_ou_,' she hissed. She sneered at him, then turned on her heel and stormed up the stairs. Once they were sure she was gone, everyone turned to him.

'What happened?' everyone yelled, overlapping each other, but getting their point across. Sirius, looking flustered, turned to James.

'I only did what you told me to!'

Remus put his head in his hands.

'Sirius,' he said calmly, 'You have realised that James has been pursuing Evans for years, right?'

'Yes…'

'So he probably wouldn't want anyone else to go out with her?'

'Yes…'

'And so he might have, uh, given you information that might not have been entirely true?'

'Yes…' said Sirius. Remus raised his eyebrows as far as they could go, and nodded, his hand gesticulating to try and get Sirius' brain to process what he'd said. Sirius' mouth suddenly opened and he closed his eyes, as if in pain, 'Oh… god.'

'Yes. Quite,' said Sarah, 'Whatever did you say to him, Potter?'

'Um,' said James, biting his lip, 'That Lily loved stealing food from the kitchens. And sneaking to Hogsmeade at night. And pranking the Slytherins…'

The boys watched the amusing spectacle of the girls all gasping, groaning and glaring at James. Caroline stepped forward, as the wordlessly chosen ringleader.

'Potter, I always knew you were an idiot, but you've surpassed my expectations on that front. Lupin, Pettigrew – you're idiots for not telling Black about it. And Black, after knowing Lily for _six years_ you must have known he was lying. Since you didn't, well… you're the biggest idiot of the lot.'

She stared at each of them in turn, taking in their guilty looks with satisfaction, before turning away and heading up to bed. Sarah and Suzie followed. Suzie glanced back at the boys; Sirius looked annoyed, James looked nervous, and Remus and Peter were having a whispered conversation. Suzie sighed and looked ahead of her again before she bumped into something.

'And Black?' yelled Caroline, from a few steps up, 'We're not going to give up on this! We'll work on bringing her around!'

'You may not be giving up, but I am!' Sirius yelled back. Caroline laughed in an eerie way, but said no more. Instead, she arrived at the door and opened it. Lily was there, sitting in bed in her pyjamas, a book on her lap.

'Lily?'

There was no reply.

'Lily, I know you're there. We can see you.'

Lily turned a page of her book.

'LILY!'

Lily looked up, a saccharine smile plastered upon her face. 'Yes, that's my name.'

'Lily, what happened?' asked Sarah, stepping towards her.

'Whatever do you mean, Sarah?'

'On your date,' snapped Caroline, 'Stop being silly and give us a proper answer!'

'Oh,' said Lily, rolling her eyes and grinning, 'On my _date_! You mean, the one which you told me to go on!'

'Lily –'

'Ah, well, if you mean _that_ date… It was… well, to put it politely… the worst time I've ever had.' She swept her eyes over her friends, and then pursed her lips and looked away.

'Lily, you're being irritating,' said Sarah, 'We got that it was bad. We understand it was terrible. _We have realised_ you were miserable. Now tell us what happened!'

Lily sighed, and then, alarming the others, started to cry. Her friends, putting all feelings of anger to the side, ran forward, and bounced onto her bed, surrounding her, with Suzie grabbing the box of tissues from the table.

'This – this – this –' Lily blubbered. Sarah had her arms around her, as did Caroline, and Suzie was sitting in front of her, holding out a tissue.

'What is it, Lily?' said Sarah.

'This bed will break under all your weight!'

Sarah laughed, 'Oh, Lily, you're so upset and yet you're still nagging us!'

'I don't particularly want my bed to break, thank you very much,' sniffed Lily, finally taking the tissue from Suzie's tired outstretched arm.

'It won't. It's magic,' said Caroline, 'Now, Lily, calm yourself down and tell us what happened.'

Lily took a few deep breaths, wiped her eyes, gave Caroline and Sarah a comforting squeeze, and said,

'Well. What can I say? It all started off fine. He was very gallant, offered me his arm, and promised me the time of my life. Being a fool, I thought that maybe it wouldn't be so bad, that maybe Caroline was right, I _would_ have fun. So then I took his arm –'

'Yes, yes, you took his arm and left the common room,' said Caroline impatiently, 'and then what?'

'Let me go however slowly I want,' said Lily, giving her a pointed look, 'Anyway, so, we went downstairs, and he told me we'd go somewhere special; somewhere fun, for dinner. I assumed he'd prepared a room, a nice dinner somewhere. It would be perfect; candlelit, pleasant conversation, soft music… Then he came up to some portrait, with fruit on it –'

'Oh, he took you to the kitchens?' said Caroline, looking thoughtful, 'Fun.'

'How do you know?' asked Suzie.

'I always have a stash of chocolate under my bed. Wouldn't I run out if I only got some on Hogsmeade visits?' said Caroline, rolling her eyes.

'Anyway, it _was_ the kitchens, and all these house elves burst out of nowhere, offering me stuff, and calling me Miss Evans like I was some sort of queen!'

'And that's bad because?' said Sarah, raising her eyebrows.

'I'm not some sort of queen! And it's breaking the rules anyway,' said Lily, looking shocked that they didn't understand what was so bad about it.

'Lily, you need to lighten up,' said Caroline. 'What did they serve you, anyway?'

'Roast lamb,' said Lily, 'and roast potatoes, and cabbage, and gravy and…'

'And what?'

'_Peas_.'

The other three groaned collectively. Lily _hated _peas. She loathed them. She despised them. She could not stand them! Although the other things Lily loved, she could not eat, or even _smell_ peas without getting the urge to lurch the contents of the past week or so's meals out of her throat.

'Anyway, after that, well, you know how I am with peas. So we had to Scourgify his robes, and although the house elves were nice about me throwing up on their dinner, I couldn't feel more guilty.'

'So did you eat dinner?'

'Yes, we did. He told me he had a back-up plan, and then he put a cloak over me, and guided me somewhere.'

'Where?'

'To some musty tunnel. He put some spell on that witch statue on the fourth floor, and it was behind it.'

'A musty tunnel?'

'How strange!'

'What were you doing in there, Lily?'

'He pulled off the cloak and we went along the tunnel, before coming out… at Honeydukes!'

'Honeydukes?'

'In Hogsmeade?'

'Yes! Completely against the rules, and –'

'There's a tunnel to Honeydukes,' said Caroline, delighted, 'I have to ask Black about it!'

'Caroline!'

'What?'

'The point was that it was a bad idea. Did you not understand this?'

'Oh, no, I understand perfectly, I just don't agree.'

'You're irritating.'

'I know.'

Sarah glared at the pair of them. 'On with the story please!'

Lily sighed and continued, 'So we were in Hogsmeade, at sunset, wandering around, until he led me into…' She paused for dramatic effect. This didn't work, and her friends all made impatient noises, so she continued, rolling her eyes, 'The Hog's Head!'

'Oooh, the Hog's Head, how _scary_!' said Caroline, 'It's all dark and dirty and… so what?'

'Caroline, he ordered me a Firewhiskey.'

'For dinner?'

'No, after dinner. You know, the Hog's Head actually serves nice roast chicken.'

'Right after dinner?'

'No, we talked for a bit first.'

'About what?'

'It's none of your business.'

'It's entirely my business.'

'Can you just concentrate on the story?' interrupted Sarah, for the second time. Caroline and Lily glowered at each other, and Lily continued,

'Anyway, he ordered me a Firewhiskey –'

'For dinner?'

'Shut _up_, Caroline. Anyway, so he was drunk or something, and then, although this was _ages_ later, I ordered a sober-up potion, and it worked, but it made him breath fire for a while –'

'That explains the burns,' commented Sarah, who was now working on repairing Lily's scorched clothes. Lily sighed and nodded, and continued,

'Then he asked me to help him prank people, and I refused, slapped him, and stormed off. He followed me, still with that awful fire breath, and then he – he –' Lily broke off.

'What? What did he do?'

'He cast Petrificus Totalus on me!'

'_What?_'

'Why?'

'Then he put his cloak over me, and released the spell, and we came back here, but, but _still_!'

'Aw, poor Lily,' cooed Sarah, having now finished repairing Lily's skirt, and moving onto her top, 'But you're back now, and there's no permanent damage. Sorry for insisting you go out with Black.'

'And so you should be,' said Lily haughtily, but she was glaring at Caroline instead of Sarah. After a few seconds of this, Caroline realised she was being stared at and shrugged.

'I have no remorse,' she said simply, 'and anyway, it doesn't sound that bad.'

'You and I have different ideas of what's bad, Caroline.'

'Yes, but my ideas are right, and yours are wrong. Sort them out!'

'Ca-ro-line,' moaned Lily, almost starting to cry again, influenced by the late hour and her low blood sugar levels.

Caroline didn't pick up on this, and continued, raising her hands as if it was a defence, 'Just a wise bit of advice! But my point was, seeing Sirius get drunk and throwing up peas, even with your _emotional_ state of mind at the moment, was no excuse for what you said to Suzie.'

The atmosphere in the room changed to tense. Lily stared at Caroline, then at Suzie.

'What did I say to Suz-' Lily paused and gasped, and burst into tears again, '_Suzie_! Oh my God, Suzie! I didn't mean it! I was barely even conscious I was saying it! I'm so sorry!'

She hurried forward and enveloped Suzie in a surprise hug. Suzie patted her back and said, 'Um, it's OK. You're, er, forgiven.'

Lily smiled a wobbly smile, and, seeing this, Sarah announced,

'Caroline, get out your chocolate stash. We're going to eat it.'

'What?'

'_Caroline_…'

Caroline sighed and obliged to her request. She could always get some more the next day.

A quarter of an hour later, the girls had tucked Lily into bed. They had eaten most of Caroline's supplies of chocolate, and the completely empty tissue box joined the wrappers on the floor. Sarah sighed, and cleaned up the rubbish. She and Suzie shared a contented smile as they heard Lily snoring, which she _did_ do, despite her numerous protests to the contrary. Suzie climbed into her own bed, and barely heard Sarah's 'Good night' or Caroline's 'Catch you later, Suze' as she instantly fell asleep. It had been a tiring evening.

* * *

Wires. Yes.

Plus content means happier in French.

Hepsa


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I, like all of you, unless JK Rowling is reading this fic, have the misfortune of not owning Harry Potter. It's truly sad that I am afflicted by this terrible tragedy.

This time I switch between Peter and Suzie. Deal with it. It was originally going to be just a Peter chapter, but it wasn't long enough.

* * *

The next day, Peter noticed that the girls avoided the boys like the plague. He saw them going around, with Lily dragging them all into the bathroom at the sight of the boys, and Caroline protesting until the last minute, when she gave in for her friend's sake. Peter was helping this process by making sure that the boys were using secret passages instead of travelling through the school like ordinary people, but it wouldn't have really mattered if they'd run into each other anyway, as Sirius was also avoiding the boys.

He was incredibly angry at James for ruining his date, and after finding out what Lily really liked from Remus and Peter, he had vowed to go out with her again, and get it right. However, he was too embarrassed over their previous date to do it again anytime soon, and so now he was roaming the school, or, from what Peter could see on the Map at the moment, heading back from Hogsmeade.

'Sirius is returning from Hogsmeade,' he commented.

'I bet he was at the Hog's Head,' said James, 'Two Knuts.'

'OK, I'll take that bet,' said Remus, 'I bet he went to Zonko's.'

'Honeydukes,' said Peter, 'It was the passage he used.'

'That's the passage we always use.'

'Still, that's my bet.'

When Sirius came into the room a few minutes later, he had a big bag full of something lumpy, and a blissful expression on his face.

'Where did you go, Sirius?' asked James bluntly.

'Hogsmeade,' replied Sirius, dumping the contents of the bag onto his bed. It had been full of Honeydukes chocolate. As Sirius had his back turned, unwrapping a bar of chocolate, James and Remus threw a grinning Peter his money.

'Pleasure doing business with you, gents.'

'You go to Honeydukes, then? Anywhere else?' asked Remus, in a desperate attempt to get his money back.

'Nope, jus'Ho'ydu'es,' said Sirius, his mouth full of chocolate, 'Want some chocolate?'

Remus, James and Peter gladly obliged. Once the chocolate had been distributed, Remus commented,

'You seem cheery.'

'Hmm,' replied Sirius, 'I ate chocolate.'

'We know, Padfoot.'

'I know.'

'Hmm.'

They sat there for a while, munching on their chocolate, with James trying to steal some of Sirius', to no avail. Peter was glad Sirius was in a good mood again – he just hoped it would last.

* * *

'Aah_tchoo_!'

The sound of the sneeze reverberated around the sixth-year girls' dorm. Sarah screwed up her eyes and Summoned the tissues, before sneezing again.

'I hate colds,' she moaned, 'I haven't had such a bad one in ages! And why now, in March?'

'I know,' said Suzie sympathetically, as Sarah burst into a wheezing coughing fit, 'Poor you.'

Lily then bustled over from the bathroom, with a nasty looking purple solution. Caroline crinkled up her nose in confusion.

'What's that?' she asked.

'Cough medicine,' said Lily.

'What?'

'Muggle cough medicine.'

'Oh. Why is it purple?'

'Because its blackcurrant flavoured.'

'Flavoured? How strange!'

'Not really,' said Sarah, taking the cup from Lily, 'But don't you have strawberry?'

'You're lucky I have cough medicine.'

'I suppose.'

She downed the cough medicine in one gulp. She screwed up her face and shuddered.

'That truly is horrible,' she announced afterwards.

'I can imagine,' said Caroline, 'If I ever get a cold, promise you won't feed me that, Lily. Even my _dad_ never uses that stuff, and he's a _Muggle_.'

Lily sighed, and took the cup back into the bathroom, to be washed up later. Suzie put her braid behind her ear, and picked up a Sugar Quill to suck on.

'I still don't get it,' she said, 'how would adding armadillo bile help?'

Lily peered over her shoulder.

'It makes it shiny.'

'I wouldn't want to put that in my hair, it's _bile_. Is there anything else that would work?'

'What are you doing?' asked Caroline.

'Potions homework,' replied Suzie, 'I'm trying to design a potion to keep my braids fixed. What potion you doing?'

'I didn't even know we had Potions homework,' said Caroline, and she returned to fiddling with the hem of her robes.

'Don't do that, it will unravel,' said Lily with distaste, before saying, to Suzie, 'I'm doing a potion to help me wake up in the mornings.'

'I'm going to design a nicer cough medicine,' chipped in Sarah.

'I thought you were going to try and create a potion to poison your nails so you don't bite them.'

'I think improving modern medicine is a much more worthwhile cause. And anyway, I haven't bitten my nails in a week, since using that nail varnish Suzie gave me, so there.'

Caroline suddenly stood up and stretched, before slouching towards the door.

'Would you care to inform us where you are going?' asked Lily, raising an eyebrow as Caroline went past. Caroline blinked at her.

'What? Oh, just down to the common room. Maybe to the grounds. Maybe to the kitchens. You used up my chocolate supply last night.'

Lily rolled her eyes, and Caroline left. Suzie closed her textbook.

'I think I'll join her,' she said. Sarah watched her from the depths of her duvet.

'Come back soon,' she said piteously, and Suzie waved as she left. As she went down the stairs, trying to catch up with Caroline, she could still hear their voices.

'Oh, stop acting so mournful,' Lily chastised, 'We'll have lots of fun, just the two of us!'

'You sound like my mother.'

'Fantastic.'

Suzie arrived at the foot of the stairs, and entered the common room. To her annoyance, Caroline was nowhere in sight. The only people there were several first-years and a third-year couple, snogging so passionately it was scary. She sighed, feeling sad, and flopped herself onto the sofa by the fireplace, and peered into the flames. She felt something soft slink around her feet – it was Lily's kitten, Janie. Suzie lifted her onto the sofa, and stroked her.

'Oh, Janie,' she said, and, putting on an accent, just for the fun of it, continued, 'I don't why on earth I feel so melancholy. It's simply dreadful. My dear kitty, do you have any ideas?'

Janie may not have had any direct ideas, but Suzie was cheered up a bit by the scared look on some of the first years' faces.

* * *

I can't think of a topic this time. What a tragedy. Oooh, tragedy… discuss Macbeth.

Hepsa


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** See other chapters.

I actually wrote this chapter the same day as I wrote Chapter 8. Go me.

This is another switching chapter. Deal with it.

* * *

'Aaah_tchoo_!'

It was a week later, and Suzie was feeling ill. She groaned.

'Oh, Suzie!' said Sarah, looking dismayed, 'You caught my cold!'

'Tissue,' muttered Suzie in reply, and Lily raced over to her, with the box. Suzie took one and mumbled her thanks. Lily sat down next to her and placed her hand on her friend's forehead.

'You're boiling!' she exclaimed, 'Caroline, fetch some cough medicine.'

'I'm busy,' replied Caroline, who was lying on her bed, twirling her hair around her finger.

'Just give her some of my cold medicine,' chipped in Sarah.

'We haven't actually made the potions yet,' commented Lily.

'It doesn't take long to make.'

Lily wandered over to Sarah's bed and picked up the parchment lying on it.

'Chocolate Frogs, Fizzing Whizbees… how does this cure colds?'

'It doesn't,' said Sarah, sighing and ripping up the parchment, 'It merely tastes good.'

'I can't imagine all those sweets together would taste good. Separately, but not in one big mush. And do your real Potions – it's due in tomorrow, Sarah, you should get cracking with it,' said Lily.

'Yes, I should,' replied Sarah blandly, taking out her ink, textbook and parchment, and setting herself to work again. Lily sat down on her bed, fidgeted, and then got up again.

'I'm bored… Caroline, I'll check your work for you!'

'Haven't started it.'

'_What_?'

'I haven't thought of a potion that would be any use to me,' replied Caroline, shrugging, 'and anyway, we have all evening, you're the only one of us who's already finished it.'

'Actually, I've finished it,' said Suzie. Lily looked delighted.

'Thank you, Suzie. Sarah's at least started it as well, Caroline, you're the lazy one.'

'Was that supposed to be an insult?' asked Caroline, but she dug out some parchment and a quill, and her expression changed to thoughtful.

'Suzie,' said Lily, after a pause, in which she had prepared some medicine, 'Are you going to go to lessons tomorrow? Or go to the hospital wing?'

'Oh… I don't know. It varies with colds,' replied Suzie.

Caroline looked up excitedly, as if struck by a sudden thought.

'Hey, Suze…'

'What?' asked Suzie suspiciously.

'If you're ill tomorrow, can I use your potion as mine?'

'What? No!'

'Why not?'

'Firstly,' said Sarah, 'what braids would you need the potion for, secondly, it's not in your handwriting, thirdly, what if she's not absent, then you'd have no work, and finally, even if she is ill, she will have to go to class sometime, and hand in the work. That's why not.'

'Admit it was a good idea.'

'No.'

'Why not?'

'Because I'd be wrong.'

Caroline pouted, sticking out her lips petulantly.

'That's got to be the stupidest expression I've ever seen,' said Lily scathingly, as she brought the medicine over to Suzie.

'Do I have to?' Suzie asked, eyeing the medicine warily.

'Yes.'

Suzie sighed and downed the liquid. It was truly horrible. She screwed up her face in disgust and passed the cup back to Lily.

'Don't ever do that to me again,' she said slowly.

Lily rolled her eyes, and, as she returned to the bathroom, yelled, 'It's for your own good you know!'

'You know,' said Sarah conversationally, 'It's been over a week since I heard from my mum. I still think she took over Lily.'

'But you got a letter from her yesterday,' pointed out Caroline.

'Ruin my joke, why don't you.'

'You ruined my plan.'

'What plan?'

'The plan to disguise Suzie's homework as my own.'

'No one's using my… my…' Suzie yawned widely, 'my ho'work… Oh, I'm tired.'

'It's because you're ill,' said Lily, 'You going to sleep?' Suzie nodded, getting herself under the duvet. 'Well then out, Caroline, Sarah, out!'

'Do we have to go?' moaned Caroline, 'I'm comfortable.'

'Yes,' said Lily, and she forced them out of the room, waving at Suzie as she did so. Without even bothering to close her curtains, Suzie fell asleep.

* * *

Peter looked up as Lily, Caroline and Sarah entered the room. He wondered where Suzie was, but looked back down at his Potions homework. He'd finished, and now he was just spell-checking. James and Sirius were struggling through their homework, and Remus was staring towards Sarah.

'If you have any questions about the homework, ask us, not Davies,' said Sirius without looking up.

'Padfoot, this is getting silly,' said Remus wearily, 'I understand you might not want to talk to Evans or her friends because of your embarrassing date, but stop getting angry if we do.'

'If you were my friend you wouldn't talk to them.'

'That's complete rubbish and you know it.'

Sirius and Remus glared at each other for a while, until Remus said, 'Anyway, what I want to say to Sarah is not homework related.'

'Sarah?' said James, raising an amused eyebrow.

'Since when have you called her Sarah?' asked Peter, grinning.

'For years,' said Remus shortly, 'Just not in front of you.'

He stood up and stormed over to Sarah. When they started talking, his bad mood vanished instantly off his face, as did Sirius'. He chanted, loudly,

'Lupin and Davies, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N–'

'Shut it, Black!' yelled Lily. Sirius smirked and grinned.

'What happened to the no-talking-to-the-girls-ever-again thing?' asked Peter.

'I can't deprive dear Moony of his girlfriend, now, can I?' asked Sirius.

'You're so mature.'

'Was that sarcastic?'

'Yes.'

'Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, you know.'

'But the highest form of humour,' replied Peter, and, given confidence by what was, in his opinion, a good comeback, he went over to join Remus at the girls' table.

'Evans, Hawling, Davies… whoever,' he said, 'where's Gibson?'

'Ill,' said Caroline. 'She got Sarah's cold. I hope I get it now, so that I'm ill tomorrow, and don't have to hand in my Potions homework.'

'It won't happen. Get to work,' ordered Lily, 'So what did you come over here for?'

'What?' said Peter, caught off guard, 'To ask where Gibson is.'

'That's all?'

'Yes,' said Peter, 'Um, bye.'

He wandered off, and, as his back was turned, he didn't see the look of disbelief and excitement Caroline and Lily exchanged as he left.

* * *

Yay! The plot is getting going!

Give your opinions on coursework. Irritating, isn't it?

Hepsa


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Not mine. Never will be.

Thanks for all the reviews so far!

Sorry this chapter is short, but I couldn't find anywhere else to add words.

* * *

'He _likes_ her?'

'Yes!'

'Are you sure?'

'Yes!'

'But… but… how do you know?'

'When he came over to talk to Lily and me, it was _so_ obvious he likes her.'

'He came over? I didn't even notice.'

'It was while you were talking to Lupin. Anyway, what are we going to do about it?'

'About what?' interrupted Suzie.

Looking tired and pale, she entered the bathroom. Sarah and Caroline, from their position on the floor, looked up guiltily.

'Suzie!' exclaimed Caroline. 'What are you doing up?'

'I have a cold. This doesn't restrict the use of my legs,' said Suzie, stepping over them and taking out her toothbrush. 'So who likes who?'

'Uh… um…'

Sarah blustered for a while, to the point that Suzie had finished brushing her teeth. Caroline finally blurted out,

'James likes Lily!'

Suzie rolled her eyes. 'If you don't want to tell me, then fine.'

'Why are you mad at us? James likes Lily!'

'Yes, I know. You both know. Sarah wouldn't just be finding out now, nor would she be surprised about it.'

'Suzie, don't be like this,' said Sarah.

Suzie ran her fingers through her hair, and looked at it, contemplative.

'You know what?' she said, 'Although I feel terrible, I'm going to class today because I really need to try out that hair goop I was planning to make.'

She left, closing the door behind her. She could hear that Caroline and Sarah were silent, except for the sound of one of them rifling through the medicine cabinet. Suzie left, her bag still lying on her bed. After she'd gone down the stairs, she realised she had done this, and returned to the room quietly. Sarah and Caroline were talking again.

'I hope she's not mad at us,' Sarah was saying. 'It's awful when she's mad. It doesn't happen often, but she goes all quiet and tries to ignore us the best she can. It's not like we can tell her!'

Suzie swung her bag onto her right shoulder, and went to the door. As she left, she heard Caroline say one last thing.

'Yeah. Mmm… I wonder how she would react if she knew Pettigrew liked her.'

Feeling shell-shocked, Suzie sat down beside Lily, staring ahead of her unseeing.

'What's up with you?' asked Lily, 'You look like you've seen a ghost. Well, not a ghost, we see ghosts all the time, so it wouldn't shock you; it's just a Muggle expression, seeing as they don't often see ghosts… I'll shut up now.'

This rambling brought Suzie back down to earth.

'Why are you so happy? You're never in this good a mood this early,' she said, frowning.

'I'm not in a good mood,' said Lily, with a bright smile. 'Caroline cast a Cheering Charm on me when I snapped at her for squeezing my toothpaste from the middle of the tube. When it wears off, I'm going to kill her.'

'How are you going to kill her?'

'I don't know, haven't decided… maybe I'll cast a Cheering Charm on her so that she's grinning when she tells Professor Slughorn she hasn't done the homework.'

'She didn't do it last night?'

'No, she couldn't be bothered. She went to the kitchens only a few minutes after you went to bed, and then she went back to the dorm straight away.'

'Oh. What potion is she going to make then?'

'She's written down the most random ingredients and is going to see if they cause an explosion when combined.'

Suzie nodded thoughtfully, and then caught sight of Peter sitting a bit further down with the other Marauders. She blushed and looked down into her empty bowl.

'D'you want the cereal?' asked Lily, wafting the box of cornflakes around Suzie's face.

'Um, yes, thanks,' Suzie mumbled, taking the box.

As she ate her cereal, she glanced periodically at Peter. Surely Caroline was mistaken? Surely he didn't like _her_? He never looked up at her – wouldn't he do that if he liked her?

As she thought this, Peter's head turned and his eyes met hers. He smiled warmly, and got up, walking towards her. Suzie knocked over the milk pitcher.

'Suzie!' cried Lily, looking down at her wet robes, 'I thought Sarah was the clumsy one!'

Irritated, she started siphoning the milk away with her wand. Suzie blushed, mumbled her apologies, and started doing the same, but, distracted, instead of getting rid of the milk, she was adding more.

'Need help with that?' said Peter, laughing quietly. Suzie blushed and looked down.

'Um… yes please,' she replied. Peter joined Lily in Vanishing the milk, and Suzie started mopping it up the Muggle way, with a towel. Once they had finished, and Lily had gone to change robes, Suzie found sitting there alone with Peter.

'You feeling better?' he asked.

'What?' she replied, caught off guard.

'Your friends told me you felt ill.'

'Oh, um, not much. Better, I mean. But I wanted to go to Potions and make my custom potion to keep my braids in place. What are you making?'

'Huh, that's funny; I'm making a potion to keep my hair from getting so messy in the evenings.'

'Oh, it looks nice in the evenings,' said Suzie absently, before realising what she'd said, and blushed.

'Thanks,' muttered Peter in reply.

They both looked away from each other as silence crept over them. After a short while, she looked up at Peter, who smiled awkwardly, before starting to walk away.

'Hope you feel better soon,' he said, waving. Suzie smiled back, mirroring his awkward smile. As she prodded her now soggy cornflakes with her spoon, she wondered for what seemed like the thousandth time of the past fifteen minutes – was what Caroline said true?

* * *

Finally onto the main plot. Woot.

Hepsa


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:** Take a wild guess.

Yes, this is kind of a filler chapter. It was for my amusement, and Larka's amusement. No, I don't particularly care. A less filler-y chapter will be along soon.

* * *

Suzie carefully dabbed some of the potion that was in her cauldron onto her braid. It glowed blue for a second, before settling to its normal colour. Suzie felt her braid and groaned. It was rock solid. She flipped through her textbook, and sighed.

'Oh, I was meant to put in _three_!'

She slapped her forehead dramatically. Lily saw this, and came over to her.

'Something wrong?' she asked.

'Too solid,' said Suzie, 'Why aren't you doing anything?'

'Professor Slughorn doesn't have half of the ingredients. He says it's too advanced for sixth-years, or even NEWT level. So he assigned me to be his personal assistant, going around and helping everyone.'

'How's everyone doing?'

'Who do you mean by everyone?'

'Sarah and Caroline.'

'Sarah's nearly finished, and so is Caroline. She's only got one ingredient left, which she will put in at the end of class, for dramatic effect, in case it works, and explodes.'

At that moment Sarah came over, holding a bottle filled with so much liquid of a garish pink colour it was spilling over onto the floor.

'Here,' she said breathlessly, 'Drink this.'

'What?'

'You're the one with a cold, Suzie, so you need to try the cough medicine to see if it's effective. Now hurry up, drink it!'

'All of it?'

'Yes! It will work better the more of it there is, won't it?'

Suzie dubiously looked at the potion, but then lifted the bottle to her mouth and drank it. Sarah looked at her expectantly and excitedly.

'Well?'

'Well what?' said Suzie.

'Does it work?'

Suzie considered this. 'My headache's clearing up, so I'd say it works.'

Sarah looked delighted. 'And what flavour is it?'

'Strawberry. Definitely strawberry.'

Sarah squealed joyfully and punched the air in triumph.

'A marvel in modern medicine, a marvel in modern medicine!' she sang, until the three girls heard a strange groaning sound.

'What's that?' asked Lily. Suzie could feel it – it was her stomach.

'It's my stomac –' she exclaimed, until she was cut off by a violent coughing fit. Sarah looked horrified, and started patting her on the back, but the coughing wouldn't stop.

'Professor Slughorn! Professor Slughorn!' screeched Lily, and their teacher rushed over at once.

'My potion!' said Sarah, distraught, 'It made her worse, not better!'

By now the entire class was watching them, silent. Suzie felt her cheeks heat up as she blushed. Sirius smirked at Sarah.

'Davies, I'm disappointed,' he said, 'You know you shouldn't be giving Gibson drugs. Especially not in lessons. Gibson, just say "no".'

'Black!' reprimanded Slughorn, frowning, and, as Caroline burst into giggles, he added, 'Hawling!'

'Sorry,' wheezed Caroline through her laughter, 'um, sir.'

Slughorn ignored her, and grabbed Sarah's list of ingredients off of her desk as Suzie continued hacking in the background.

'How much did you give her, Davies?'

'A bottle's full, sir,' replied Sarah, looking anxious.

'That explains it! Too much of it reverses its effects! Hold on, Gibson, I'll whip up an antidote for you! In the meantime, I'm afraid you'll have to live with it. Carry on, everyone!'

Slughorn immediately began a potion, as the other went back to work. Caroline clambered onto the desk and slid over it to join the hysterical Sarah, the irritated Lily, and the still coughing Suzie.

'Suzie, I feel sorry for you, but it is quite humorous,' said Caroline. Suzie looked at her.

'Too… soon… for… jokes…' she replied between coughs. Caroline sighed, but she grinned a moment later.

'What?' asked Lily suspiciously as Caroline watched her.

'No-thing,' said Caroline, stretching out the syllables. At this point, Slughorn noticed her.

'Hawling! Get back to your potion!' he said loudly. Caroline rolled her eyes and slid back to her cauldron. Seeing that she was doing nothing, he added, 'Get to work, Hawling.'

'I've only got one more ingredient to add, sir!' protested Caroline.

'Well then add it!' said Slughorn. Caroline sighed, and dropped her banestone into the mix, and, as she had hoped, there was a huge explosion. The room seemed to shake, and a horrible murky brown gas filled the room. Suzie soon wasn't the only one coughing.

'HAWLING!' yelled Professor Slughorn through the smoke, 'Detention!'

'Whoops,' said Caroline innocently. Suzie sniffed the air, and suddenly found she wasn't coughing anymore.

'Hey, Caroline! I'm not coughing anymore!' she said, hoping Caroline would hear her over the noise of other people.

'Really? Do you think my brown gas helped?'

'Maybe. I don't know. Or maybe it just went away,' said Suzie, shrugging, although no one could see her doing so. She turned around to see if she could find her cauldron in the smoke, when she felt herself bump into someone.

'Oh! Sorry,' she said, at the same time as Peter did. Suzie blushed brightly, and was thankful for the smoke.

'You're not coughing anymore,' remarked Peter.

'No, the gas seemed to heal me,' said Suzie.

'That's good. How was your potion going?'

'Rock solid,' sighed Suzie, 'See?'

She held out her braid, and Peter put his hand around it.

'I see,' he said, 'It doesn't even feel like hair.'

'I know. How was yours going?'

'Opposite of yours. Too soft.'

'What do you mean?'

Peter groped for Suzie's hand until he found it, and then placed it on his head. His hair felt like jelly. Suzie grimaced.

'Somewhere between ours is a good hair care potion,' she said, putting her hand back by her side. 'I think I'll stick to store-bought from now on.'

Peter laughed a little. The smoke was clearing, and Suzie could now see him, although he seemed to be tinted brown.

'Do you want to use some of my potion on your hair?' he offered.

'OK, thanks. And you can use some of mine.'

'Thanks.'

By the time Peter and Suzie had put the other's potion onto their hair, and neutralising their own potion, it was the end of the lesson. Suzie reluctantly handed in hers, along with the instructions, hoping she'd still be able to get a good mark, despite the fact it was too solidifying. Sarah's potion had cleared up her headache, and she was feeling a lot better. Maybe she didn't need to go to the hospital wing.

* * *

More plot soon. I could have had this as an offshoot, but an offshoot of an offshoot is weird.

Let's discuss gymnastics. Yesterday I was doing a forward roll off a trampette and banged my knee to my head. VERY painful. Ouch.

Hepsa


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** Not. No.

Hello. Thanks for any reviews.

* * *

The rumour that Peter Pettigrew had a crush on Suzie Gibson spread quickly around the school. None of the girls knew how it had got out. Lily, Caroline and Sarah were desperately trying to stop Suzie from hearing it, and she was humouring them by pretending she hadn't.

All of this, however, was unknown to Peter, although his blissful ignorance was about to be interrupted.

'Wormtail! Why didn't you tell us?' said Sirius loudly, slapping him on the back. Peter looked up from his homework, startled by his sudden appearance. He hadn't realised Quidditch practice was already finished.

'Tell you what?'

'I can understand,' said James, coming up behind Sirius, 'She is pretty. Nothing on my Evans, though, of course.'

Peter shook his head, confused. 'What are you talking about?'

'Yes, I'm curious too,' put in Remus, looking at Sirius and James over the top of his book.

'Well,' said Sirius, 'I was talking to Amanda Bishops, you know, the Chaser, and I said, "Hey there, Mandy. With you in the Quidditch team, we definitely meet our cuteness quota." And _she_ said, 'The team doesn't need me to fulfil it. You're plenty as it is." And then _I_ said –'

'Get to the point, Sirius,' said Peter.

'We don't need to hear the details of your love life,' added Remus.

James glared at Sirius. 'Especially details which aren't even true! It was _me_ that was flirting with Amanda.'

'Since when do you flirt with anyone other than Evans? And, anyway, Bishops hates the name Mandy. You're both liars, aren't you?' pointed out Remus.

'Um…'

'Please, I want to know what you're talking about, _get to the point!_' snapped Peter. Sirius resumed.

'Anyway, Amanda said that she heard from Nicole Simpson that she'd heard from John Spencer that he'd heard from Amy Morrison that Olivia Downsworth had overhead Sarah Davies and Lily Evans saying that _you have a crush on Suzie Gibson_!'

Peter's mouth hung open. 'Me? _Gibson_? What?'

He looked over to the other side of the room, where Suzie was sitting, doing some homework, and twirling her braids, as she often did. Peter tore his eyes away from this sight, which always seemed to hypnotise him, to look at his friends, who were now all wolf-whistling in bad harmony.

'Don't try to deny it, pal, you just looked at her!' said James.

'I looked at her because you mentioned her,' protested Peter, through gritted teeth.

'Peter, you've never seemed to show much interest in girls before, so it's nice to see you finally getting your hormones going,' said Remus, 'and Gibson is a pretty choice.'

'Excuse me, Mr. Girl-Expert, but I used to have a girlfriend, and one that James 'Love-machine' Potter over there _still_ can't get after years of trying. That's more experience and interest than can be said of you.'

'Moony has had experience,' butted in Sirius.

'With who?'

'Davies!'

Remus scowled. 'Are you ever going to give up on that?'

'What do you think?'

'Think or hope?'

'Think.'

Remus sighed. 'Damn.'

'Correct. 10 points for Gryffindor.' Seeing Peter packing up his things, Sirius added, 'Wormtail! You're not trying to escape us, I hope?'

'I'm only going to the dorm. I know you'll come up in a few minutes and try to get me to confess about the Gibson thing, which will be difficult, seeing as it's _not true_.'

He slung his bag over his shoulder, and went up the stairs to the dorm. He lay on the bed, thinking. He liked Davies and Evans, and had always thought they liked him. Why would they say such a thing? Or had Downsworth heard wrong? That could have been the case. No, it couldn't – there weren't any other students with last names similar to Pettigrew. Could the mistake have been further down the line? Or was it just people making up rumours? Peter sighed. Both were unlikely - one wouldn't forget the actual gossip but remember who had said what to whom, and so forth, and no one had ever made up a rumour about Peter before. He wasn't an 'important person' in the school's standings – he wasn't on a Quidditch team, and nor was he particularly outgoing or famous. What reason would they have? But then again, it was possible. Trying to fathom out the intricacies of the Hogwarts grapevine was impossible.

However, he probably had to pin it on Davies and Evans. Why would they have said that, though? Making up a rumour, especially one that involves one of their best friends, with no grounds to base it on didn't seem like their type of thing. He was going to confront them about it.

He got up, and strode back into the common room. The other Marauders tried to get his attention, but he ignored them and went over to where the girls were sitting. They looked at him as he stopped before them. Suzie was on the floor looking up.

_James and Remus are right_, he thought, as he stared at her, _she _is_ pretty. Peter! Snap out of it! You're here to tell them it's not true, not give them more evidence! _

'Davies, Evans, can I speak with you a moment?'

'Oh, um, sure,' said Sarah, looking confused. She removed her textbook from her lap, and she and Lily went with him into a corner.

'What is it, Pettigrew?' asked Lily. Peter took a deep breath.

'Well,' he said, 'I heard from Sirius Black that he heard from Amanda Bishops that she heard from Nicole Simpson that she heard from, uh… John Spencer! That's it. Well, he heard from Morrison… _Amy_ Morrison, that Olivia Downsworth heard you two saying I had a crush on Gibson.'

'What? Didn't catch that,' said Lily.

'Oh, we didn't realise anyone overheard us talking, so sorry about it spreading. The thing is you were just so obvious! If you don't want people to find out, then you need to be more subtle,' giggled Sarah, who had understood his ramblings, being very familiar with rambling speeches herself.

'The problem is, Davies, that I don't have a crush on Gibson.'

Sarah and Lily both looked confused.

'But… but… but asking about her when she was ill!' said Lily, 'And generally staring at her!'

'And comforting her the night Lily and Black went out!' added Sarah.

'That… that… that doesn't mean I like her!' said Peter, in a rather high-pitched voice. He was now starting to doubt his own words.

'It doesn't?' said Lily, looking shocked. She and Sarah glanced at each other, bit their lips and groaned.

'Sorry, Pettigrew!' squeaked Sarah, 'We just misread the signs! It just… seemed like it.'

'Never mind,' said Peter.

_Now I'm starting to think _I_ misread the signs_, thought Peter,_ This is worrying. Hold your resolve, Peter. You do not have a crush on Gibson._

'Hey, it could be worse,' said Sarah, 'Suzie never found out about it.'

'She didn't?'

'No. She didn't.'

Peter felt relieved. She didn't know about his crush on her! _Er_, he corrected himself, _his _supposed _crush on her._

'Good. The boys have found out though, try and avoid them, they might tell her something.'

'OK, then,' said Sarah, 'Is that it?'

'Yep.'

'Bye.'

'Bye.'

He walked back towards the stairs, but had only managed to go up a couple steps before the Marauders charged at him, knocking him to the ground.

'Oi, get off!' he yelled. The boys bounced up off him.

'What were you talking to Evans and Davies about? Asking them to help you go out with _her_, were you?' said Sirius, grinning.

'No, actually, I was telling them the truth,' Peter growled in response, 'That I _don't_ have a crush on Gibson!'

'Methinks the lady doth protest too much!' said James, grinning. Peter scowled, and stormed up the stairs.

'Way too much,' he heard Remus say. Peter slammed the door to the dorm and sat on his bed. That had been a confusing half-hour. If someone had told him he had a crush on Gibson half-an-hour ago, he would have found the idea laughable. Actually, he _had_ been told this half-an-hour ago, and _had_ found it laughable. But now… now he was unsure. What exactly were his feelings for Gibson? They didn't seem as entirely platonic as they did earlier. What was up with that?

* * *

If you want, talk about handbags. How come stuff always gets lost in them, no matter how small the bag is, or big the object?

Hepsa


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, apart from the plot, and a part-share in the OCs.

Chapter 13! Wow. It seems like I wrote this ages ago already.

* * *

The rumour about Peter and Suzie died down quickly once Lily and Sarah started telling people it was not true. There was doubt for a while, but once Caroline started threatening people, it died away almost immediately. Peter, who had been getting wolf-whistles and sniggers from people in the corridors, was thankful. It was hard enough to deal with his so-called friends acting silly without having to glower at people he barely even knew.

Suzie, on the other hand, was confused that the rumours had died down. She didn't know why, only that Peter had spoken to Lily and Sarah, and they'd refused to tell her what about. This meant it was to do with her, and since then she'd fruitlessly attempted to weasel it out of them, much to her friends' consternation.

Ever since that conversation, she'd noticed Peter gazing at her more often, in fact, whenever they were both in a room together. He always sat far away from her, but his eyes followed her about. It was slightly disconcerting, but she knew that if she was really bothered by it, she could just look back at him, and he'd look away, usually with red cheeks.

One evening, the girls were sitting in the common room, in their favourite place, by the fire. Lily had finished all her homework, and was waiting to correct the others' essays. Sarah and Suzie were both putting the finishing touches on their Herbology essays, and Caroline was knitting.

'Caroline,' commented Sarah, passing Lily her essay, 'what are you doing?'

'Knitting.'

'Knitting what?'

'A giant scarf.'

'Why?'

'Inspiration struck me the other day, and I was bored, so I decided to start.'

'If you're bored, you could do your homework,' said Lily dryly.

'Nah, that would make me even more bored, wouldn't it?'

Lily looked disapproving, but said nothing more. Instead, she continued looking through Sarah's essay, and Caroline continued knitting.

'Lily?' Suzie said after a while. Lily looked up from correcting Sarah's Herbology essay and nodded.

'Hmm? You ready for me to mark yours?'

'No, not yet,' said Suzie, who had been thinking too much to be able to finish yet, 'but what were you talking about with Pettigrew?'

'Um…'

Lily was all of a sudden absorbed in the essay again, acting like she had whenever Suzie had asked her at other points during the week. Suzie rolled her eyes.

'Sarah?'

Sarah's eyes flickered up for a moment, and then stared determinedly down at her textbook.

'Caroline?'

'Sorry, Suze,' said Caroline, looking up from her knitting and shrugging, 'I can't divulge the information exchanged in that conversation.'

'What? And why not?'

'I wasn't part of it!'

'Oh, ha ha, Caroline,' said Suzie irritably, 'Why won't anyone tell me?'

'If I told you, I'd have to kill you,' said Caroline. Suzie glared at her. Lily sighed, and put down the essay.

'Suzie, we're not trying to leave you out, but we genuinely can't tell you. I really don't like leaving you out like this, but I have to respect his privacy.'

'How come Caroline knows?'

'Because I am omniscient,' said Caroline.

'Why are you being particularly annoying this evening?'

'Meh. I feel like it.'

Suzie sighed, and then said quietly, 'Can you just tell me one thing?'

'Depends what it is,' replied Lily, just as quietly.

'Was it about me?'

Lily, Sarah and Caroline glanced at each other, and Suzie took their silence to mean a yes.

'Was it about the fact he has a crush on me?'

Sarah, Lily and Caroline all looked at her. Sarah and Lily were visibly shocked, while Caroline just looked thoughtful.

'You heard that rumour then?'

'I heard it from you, Caroline, when you were talking to Sarah a couple weeks ago.'

Lily froze then turned to glare at Caroline.

'How did you let that happen?' she hissed.

'Accident,' said Caroline, at a normal volume, shrugging, 'and I'm glad she heard it from us, not from Black or someone that would embarrass her about it. We probably should have just told her the truth from the beginning.'

'_Probably_? Not probably, Caroline, _definitely_,' Suzie huffed, feeling annoyed that her friends had kept something so important from her, particularly as it was so personal.

'Why didn't you tell us you knew?' asked Sarah.

'Didn't want to make you feel guilty because of accidentally letting it slip,' said Suzie. 'But _now_ can you tell me about your conversation?'

Sarah and Lily glanced at each other, but Caroline jumped straight in.

'He's in denial, Suzie. Won't admit he likes you. He told them he didn't, but I don't believe him.'

'I don't know what to think,' said Sarah, 'I mean, the signs all point to him liking you. But he says he didn't…'

'Sarah's in denial about it being possible to not realise you like someone,' said Caroline, 'and it doesn't only apply to Pettigrew.'

Sarah looked at her suspiciously. 'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Nothing, dear, nothing,' she replied in a long-suffering tone, and she started knitting faster.

Lily and Suzie looked at each other and giggled, both at Sarah's confusion and Caroline's crazy knitting. Sarah gave them suspicious looks as well, but then sighed and said,

'What are you going to do about it, Suzie?'

Suzie bit her lip. What could she do about it? She couldn't very well go and ask him, could she? She didn't have the confidence. And if it turned out he really _didn't_ like her, how utterly, completely awful would that be?

'She's going to go and ask him, aren't you, Suzie?' said Caroline, who obviously wasn't reading Suzie's thoughts at the time.

'You know I'm too shy,' mumbled Suzie.

'It's not that hard,' said Caroline, 'I'd do it. Just ask him how he feels. He'd tell the truth to you.'

'Not necessarily…'

'Yes, necessarily! If he didn't like you, he wouldn't tell you he that he did. And if he does like you, he wouldn't deny it to you! He wouldn't want to lose his chance.'

'Caroline –'

'So go and tell him you like him!'

'But I don't like him.'

'What?'

'Well, I don't know if I like him. I never even thought about it until I found out he liked me.'

'Well,' said Caroline slowly, although her knitting was getting even faster, 'if you don't like him _now_, once you've been out, he'll probably grow on you. So that's no excuse! And anyway, you're probably in denial too.'

'Caroline!' said Sarah, 'I don't disbelieve in denial about love. But not everyone does it! Do you do it?'

Caroline faltered a little, and stopped knitting, all of a sudden looking small as opposed to the commanding person she had looked moments before. 'N-no, of _course_ not,' she said slowly, not looking too sure.

Lily looked shrewdly at Caroline, hearing her almost timid tone of voice, but said nothing. Caroline sat up a little straighter, and said, still quietly, 'As I was saying, Suzie, if you don't feel comfortable talking to him, don't. It was only an idea.'

'Caroline, are you all right?' asked Sarah.

'I'm fine!' said Caroline, picking up her knitting again and suddenly grinning brightly, 'I just think Suzie can make her own decision.'

Sarah, Lily and Suzie exchanged glances. They knew Caroline wasn't happy, but was hiding it. However, they also knew that asking her about it would be pointless, so they didn't say anything.

'So what are you going to do then, Suzie?'

Suzie bit her lip. 'Well… what else can I do other than asking him?'

Sarah, Lily and Caroline all thought for a moment, and Suzie felt her heart sinking as they all shook their heads.

'But… but…' she squeaked, 'I can't talk to him about it! I… I…'

'Are you going to do nothing then?' asked Lily.

'She can't do nothing!' said Caroline sharply, before turning to Suzie.

'What's the worst that can happen if you talk to him?'

'Him rejecting me, maybe?'

'Nonsense. He can't reject you; you're not asking him out or anything. You're _inviting_ him to ask you out. You are giving him a rather obvious hint that you wouldn't be averse to the idea of considering thinking about pondering whether it's a good idea to _maybe_ entertain the suggestion of going out with him some time. If he says he doesn't like you, just say you're sorry, you heard a rumour and wanted to know if it was true. He can't get mad at you or anything for that.'

'But… but…'

'But what?'

Suzie sighed. 'I don't know.'

'You can do it, Suzie. I know you have confidence hidden inside you somewhere - you are a Gryffindor,' she winked, 'Go and ask him.'

Suzie took a deep breath and nodded. Caroline grinned widely, and Suzie stood up, shaking slightly. Caroline nudged her forward.

'Go on,' she said, and Suzie started walking off. Behind her, she could hear the fading voices of her friends.

'Confidence hidden inside you?' scoffed Sarah. 'That sounds like something in a bad 'Discover the Real You' book or something.'

'It worked, didn't it?' replied Caroline.

Suzie locked her eyes on Peter, who, having been looking at her, swiftly turned his head anyway. She determinedly walked forward, and, coming up in front of him, said,

'Pettigrew. Um, can I speak with you a moment?'

* * *

Squee! Thanks for your reviews, anyone who reviewed. Woot.

Hepsa


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I own everything… apart from most things, including this.

* * *

Peter was thankful that Remus, Sirius and James had gone to the kitchens to get food. They were planning on throwing a party. Peter's job was to get rid of Evans, but he was just so glad they had left him be, having suffered their teasing about Suzie all evening, as he had all week, that he had forgotten his job and was just relaxing. The worst thing about it was that, eventually, they'd end up finding out they were right, and tease him even more.

Peter had finally admitted to himself that he did have a crush on Suzie, and there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't help staring at her, and, although he tried to hide it from his friends, they kept catching him, if she didn't first. At the moment, she was walking away from her friends and across the room, and towards… _him_.

Her eyes caught his, and he looked away, hoping he was mistaken about her target. He was scared she knew he liked her – how embarrassing! Hopefully it was about the Charms homework. As he saw her feet stop in front of his, he looked up at her.

'Pettigrew. Um, can I speak with you a moment?'

Peter nodded. Suzie sat down next to him. She was biting her lip anxiously. They sat in silence for a moment. Peter suddenly blurted out, 'Is this about the Charms homework?'

'What?'

'Um…'

'No, no, it's…' She paused and swallowed. Peter could feel his heart beating more quickly. 'Um, well… I heard… No, I mean, I know… Urgh… This is nowhere near as easy as Caroline made it out to be… Do you have a crush on me?'

Peter froze. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. This was mainly because he didn't know what to say. What could he say? If he said no, he'd be ruining his chances with her, and he _did_ like her, but if he said yes… ugh… how mortifying. Suzie also looked embarrassed.

'Oh my God, what a terrible thing to ask someone!' she squeaked. 'I tried to rephrase it well, but how can you phrase that question well? If you don't, I completely understand, I just heard a rumour that you did and wanted to know and –'

'Yes.'

He was blushing brightly, a colour that was soon matched on Suzie's face.

'Um, what?' she mumbled.

'I do. I mean, yes, I…'

'I… I get it.'

They sat in silence for a while, still with their blushes radiating off them. Peter eventually turned to her and asked,

'Um… would you like to go, uh, on a date with me?'

'Well, I wouldn't have asked you if I wasn't open to it,' said Suzie quietly.

'I suppose not.'

'So… during the Hogsmeade visit?'

'What?'

'On Saturday.'

'Oh, um, yes. Then. Convenient, isn't it?'

'Not really. There's one every couple of months. If it had been next week, we could have gone then. And we didn't have to go to Hogsmeade anyway.'

'I suppose.'

Once again, the two sat in awkward silence for a while, until Suzie rose to leave, wanting to tell her friends.

'See you,' she said quietly.

'Bye, Gibson.'

'Gibson? You're going to go on a date with me, call me Suzie!' She giggled, and Peter blushed again.

'Er, right then… Suzie.'

She smiled and started to walk off. Struck by a sudden thought, he stood up and called after her.

'Suzie?'

'Mmm?' She turned around to face him.

'I have a favour to ask.'

'Yes?'

'The boys are planning a party for now. Do you think you could get Evans out of here? I understand if you don't want to, but –'

'They're finally getting their act together and throwing a party?' interrupted Suzie, 'I love their parties! Not that I'd tell Lily though, she'd kill me! But I'm not letting Lily ruin another one if I have a chance to stop her. Glad to help out!'

She waved at him and hurried over to the other girls. Peter sat down, letting his weight sink into the couch. He had a date with Gibson. He had a date with _Suzie_. He could call Gibson Suzie! He wanted to get up and dance, or do something to show his excitement, but that would be embarrassing, and possibly put Suzie (_Suzie_!) off him, so he contented himself with sighing dreamily and loudly every few seconds. Ah, the joys of life!

* * *

Suzie tentatively walked over to the other girls. Caroline was knitting furiously, Lily was correcting Suzie's half-finished essay, which she had left on the table, and Sarah was reading it over Lily's shoulder.

'Ooh, that's a good sentence, mine isn't nearly as good,' said Sarah, biting her lip.

'Mine isn't _that_ good. At any rate, it's not as good as Lily's,' said Suzie. Her friends all turned their heads to look at her. They all seemed to be about to say something, but she raised her hand to silence them. 'Upstairs.'

She hurried up to her bed, leaving her belongings behind in the rush. A moment later, her friends burst in, their things also forgotten, all squealing as they jumped onto her bed.

'What happened?'

'Calm down, girlies, you'll get your story,' said Suzie, grinning. Sarah raised her eyebrows.

'Oh my God, Suzie, you sound like Caroline.'

Suzie slapped her hands over her mouth. 'Urgh, you're right, I _do_!'

'Much as it's interesting to see how my marvellousness is influencing Suzie,' commented Caroline, ignoring Suzie's groan, 'we have more pressing matters to discuss. Suzie?'

'Yeah, what happened?' urged Lily.

'Well,' said Suzie, 'I asked him. And he said…' She sighed sadly and looked down at her feet, just to draw out the drama. Sarah squeaked in alarm. Suzie suddenly looked up, and, grinning, burst out, 'I'm going on a date with him to Hogsmeade!'

Suzie was quickly engulfed by her three friends jumping on her, squealing, laughing and hugging her all at once. Suzie squirmed underneath them, but she was grinning.

'Get off!' she said once Caroline started tickling her. Her friends sat back, grinned, and then, inspired by Caroline, dove forward to tickle her again. Once they had all calmed down, Lily gasped out through her giggles,

'Full story, please!'

'Yes, yes, full story!' agreed Sarah, and then the two burst into mad giggles and leaned on each other for support as they keeled over.

'Er… you're hyper,' commented Suzie, an eyebrow raised.

'We're sorry, it's just so… so…' giggled Lily. Not having found the right word, she shrugged and said, 'Carry on.'

'So, I asked him, and he said he did like me, and asked me out, and we arranged to go on Saturday, and then I told him to call me Suzie, not Gibson. And, er, that's it.'

'You were gone ages! Surely that can't be all you said to each other,' said Caroline.

'Er, yes, it was, actually.'

'And I thought I raised your confidence,' sighed Caroline. 'Do you need a crash course?'

'You did raise my confidence! I went over there, didn't I?' said Suzie.

Caroline rolled her eyes, and got off of the bed, pulling Suzie up with her.

'Come on. Let's get our stuff.'

'Oh… will you get my stuff?' asked Sarah, who was retreating to her own bed, 'Please?'

'Sure,' said Lily, bouncing up as well, 'I'll come too.'

'No!' squeaked Suzie. Everyone gave her a strange look. 'Um, Caroline and I can handle it. Really, don't bother.'

'OK,' said Lily. 'See you in a bit.'

She wandered into the bathroom, waving. Caroline and Suzie started walking down the stairs.

'Why didn't you want Lily down – _oh_,' asked Caroline, stopping when she spotted the party. Lights were flashing, and food was scattered over the tables. As they entered, loud music began blaring.

'Keep it down!' hissed Suzie, 'Lily will hear!'

The music's volume dropped dramatically, but despite the quietness, it was a good party. Suzie and Caroline brought up their belongings, as well as Lily and Sarah's, but then returned to the party, along with Sarah, who they had informed of the party in a whisper. Caroline was consuming a questionable drink, while Suzie and Sarah were dancing madly, and having great fun. Suzie was disappointed that Peter wasn't there, but she presumed he might have gone to the dorm before the boys could find out about what had happened, and tease him rotten. Suzie would have liked to dance with him, but she supposed it was a wise move.

'Suzie!' squealed Sarah, interrupting Suzie's thoughts. 'It's that song!'

Suzie listened for a second – Sarah was right, it was the song which the girls had all heard and claimed as "theirs" – and then forgot about Peter and lost herself in the dancing.

* * *

Thank you for your reviews, werewolvesrule282!

Hepsa


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: Still not mine.

I'm having writer's block at the moment. Pity me. Do.

* * *

The days rushed by quickly, and it was soon Friday night. Suzie was nervous about her date the next day. Her stomach kept twisting uncomfortably, and every time she caught sight of Peter, the butterflies feeling intensified. Other than her feeling nervous, and her friends grinning and exchanging glances every time she looked at Peter, nothing much had changed. From this she drew the conclusion that he hadn't told the other boys, and she dreaded the day he did, and how much they would tease her as well as him.

Suzie had decided to have a bath, and had just gone into the bathroom. She undid her braids, letting her hair flow loose down her back, and turned on the tap. She was sitting on the edge of the tub, pulling off her socks, when the door burst open.

'Caroline!' yelled Suzie, as soon as she realised who it was, 'Don't just barge in on me when I'm having a bath!'

'You're wearing clothes,' pointed out Caroline. Suzie rolled her eyes.

'Yes, but I might not have been!'

'But you are, so there's no problem!'

Caroline wandered over to the cabinet, and reached into it, closing one eye in concentration. She pulled out a small box, grinned, and enlarged it.

'What's that?' asked Suzie.

'My bath stuff,' explained Caroline. She fiddled with the lock, to Suzie's amusement, until she got bored and cast Alohomora on it.

'I didn't know you had bath stuff,' commented Suzie.

'Good. I've been hiding it recently. Lily steals things otherwise,' said Caroline. 'Here. Use it. It'll make you feel good.'

'Really?'

'I said it would, didn't I?'

Suzie gratefully took the box, and peered at the contents, which included various shampoos and soaps, among other things.

'Thanks!' she said grinning, before adding, suspiciously, 'Why are you being so generous?'

'I'm always generous,' protested Caroline, before waving and leaving.

Suzie rolled her eyes, picked out some lavender scented products, and had her bath. It was lovely, and _did_ make her feel good, but she didn't feel she fully enjoyed it as the whole way through her thoughts were centred on her date, and the nervous feeling was multiplying. How was she going to get through it without embarrassing herself?

* * *

'I think she's waking up.'

'Oh shoot! We should have used a sleeping charm! I'm not done yet!'

'It's the light… Sarah, close the curtains!'

The whispered voices of her friends floated into Suzie's ear. She groaned and rolled over, causing one of her friends to squeak in surprise. There was a strange sensation on her face. She opened her eyes to a squint, and saw Sarah, frozen like a deer caught in headlights, staring at her.

'It was Caroline's idea!' she moaned. Suzie turned over to see Lily slapping her hand to her face, and Caroline rolling her eyes.

'What was Caroline's idea?' asked Suzie, sitting up. She suddenly realised what she felt on her face. 'What weird make-up did she put on me?'

'I didn't manage to finish,' said Caroline, sighing, Summoning the mirror, and passing it to Suzie. Half her face looked normal, for that time of morning, while the other half was covered in thick make-up. Suzie screamed.

'What have you done to my face?' she screeched. 'I have a date, Caroline! You were so nice yesterday, what changed?'

'It was a joke!' said Caroline, waving her wand. The make-up vanished instantly. 'Just wanted to see when you'd notice!'

'What if I'd gone down to breakfast like that?'

'It never would have happened. Sarah would never have let you do that. I knew she'd probably tell you, but I didn't think she'd only last _two seconds_.'

'Sorry!' said Sarah sheepishly.

'Why are you up so early, Lily?' asked Suzie, swinging her legs off the bed and standing up.

'It's not early. You slept late. You only have half-an-hour before your date!'

'Oh, _damn_,' cursed Suzie, and she started madly rifling through her trunk to find an outfit.

'More haste, less speed,' said Caroline wisely and completely unhelpfully. Suzie glared at her and continued rifling, until she pulled out a white off-the-shoulder top and a blue floaty skirt, and ran into the bathroom to change.

'Calm down! You have a whole half-hour!' said Sarah, laughing.

Suzie glared at her as she left the bathroom, wearing her outfit. She spun around to display it to the group. Caroline wolf-whistled.

'Yes, that's nice,' said Lily. 'Wear my blue pumps.'

'Do we have the same shoe size?' asked Suzie.

'Doesn't matter,' replied Lily. Suzie slipped the shoes, which were too big for her, on, and Lily shrunk them, and, satisfied, smiled and said, 'See?'

'Thanks,' said Suzie, looking at her feet admiringly. She then went over to the mirror and picked up the ribbons for her braids.

'No, don't!' said Sarah, Lily and Caroline, almost, but not quite, in unison.

'Why not?'

'Peter sees you with braids all the time,' said Lily.

'They're boring,' said Caroline bluntly.

'And your hair looks lovely down,' chipped in Sarah.

'But brush it!' added Caroline.

'Obviously,' replied Suzie, rolling her eyes, and she picked up her brush and started using it. The others used this opportunity to get dressed themselves, and by the time they were all ready, with Suzie having put on some lip-gloss, it was time to go to Hogsmeade. Suzie hugged all her friends.

'Good luck!' squeaked Sarah.

'Have fun!' added Lily.

Caroline merely winked at her. The other girls let her go ahead of them, so as not to disturb Peter and Suzie when they met up.

* * *

Peter was waiting for her by the portrait hole. He looked nervous, and was biting his lip. Suzie peered around the staircase, smiled, and stepped into the room. She walked over to Peter and tapped him on the shoulder.

'Hey, Peter.'

Peter looked at her, startled, and then relaxed. 'Hi, Suzie.' He paused. 'What happened to your braids?'

'Oh,' said Suzie happily, running her hand over her hair, 'I took them out for a change. Do you like it?'

'Um, yeah, yeah, sure,' replied Peter. He smiled widely, but it looked forced, and Suzie could tell he didn't really like her hair. Her good mood started evaporating. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

:P Let's hope the writer's block evaporates soon.

Hepsa


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